Christoph von Dohnányi
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Christoph von Dohnányi (born September 18, 1929) is a German conductor.
He was born in Berlin to Hans and Christine von Dohnányi. His older brother is Klaus von Dohnanyi.[1] His uncle on his mother's side was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He studied law in Munich, but in 1948 he transferred to the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik to study composition, piano and conducting. At the opera in Munich, he was a stage extra, coached singers, and was a house pianist. He received the Richard Strauss Prize from the city of Munich, and then went to Florida State University to study with his grandfather, Ernst von Dohnányi.
His first position as conductor was at the Frankfurt Opera, appointed by Georg Solti, where he also served as a ballet and opera coach. He was the musical director of the Lübeck Opera from 1957-1963. He also served as director of the Westdeutsche Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester. In 1968, he succeeded Solti as Intendant and chief conductor at the Frankfurt opera and served in both capacities until 1977. He took the same positions with the Hamburg opera in 1977, and relinquished those posts in 1984.
He made his conducting debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in December 1981, and was named their music director in 1982. He served as the orchestra's music director from 1984 to 2002, when he was named Music Director Laureate of the orchestra.
In 1994, Dohnányi became the Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra and in 1997 their Principal Conductor. He will relinquish this position in 2008 to Esa-Pekka Salonen and become 'Honorary Conductor for Life' of the Philharmonia. In 2005, Dohnányi returned to Hamburg, Germany (where he had maintained a residence for many years) to become Chief Conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra.
He has made guest appearances with many major orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic, and recorded widely.
Dohnányi has been married three times. His first wife was the German actress Renate Zillessen, and they had two children. His second wife was the German soprano Anja Silja, with whom he had three children. His third wife is Barbara Koller.[2]
[edit] References
Rosenberg, Donald, The Cleveland Orchestra Story. Gray & Co. (Cleveland, OH), 2000. ISBN 1-886228-24-8]
[edit] External links
| Preceded by none |
Principal Conductor, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne 1964–1969 |
Succeeded by Zdenek Macal |
| Preceded by Lorin Maazel |
Music Director, Cleveland Orchestra 1984–2002 |
Succeeded by Franz Welser-Möst |
| Preceded by Giuseppe Sinopoli |
Principal Conductor, Philharmonia Orchestra 1997–2008 |
Succeeded by Esa-Pekka Salonen (designate) |
| Preceded by Semyon Bychkov |
Music Director, Orchestre de Paris 1998–2000 |
Succeeded by Christoph Eschenbach |
| Preceded by Christoph Eschenbach |
Chief Conductor, North German Radio Symphony Orchestra 2004– |
Succeeded by incumbent |
