Hermann Levi

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Hermann Levi (November 7, 1839 – May 13, 1900) was a German orchestral conductor.

Born in Gießen, he was the son of a Jewish rabbi. He was educated at Gießen and Mannheim, and came to Vincenz Lachner's notice. From 1855 to 1858 Levi studied at the Leipzig conservatorium, and after a series of travels which took him to Paris, he obtained his first post as music director at Saarbrücken, which post he exchanged for that at Mannheim in 1861. From 1862 to 1864 he was chief conductor of the German opera in Rotterdam, then till 1872 at Karlsruhe, when he went to Munich, a post he held until 1896, when ill-health compelled him to resign.

Levi's name is indissolubly connected with the increased public appreciation of Wagner's music. A longtime friend of Wagner, he conducted the first performance of Parsifal at Bayreuth in 1882, and was connected with the musical life of that place during the remainder of his career. He visited London in 1895, and died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1900.

During his early years, Levi also worked as a composer. His first opus number was a piano concerto published in Paris, besides which he also wrote a violin sonata.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Preceded by Franz Wüllner

General Music Directors, Bavarian State Opera 1872–1896

Succeeded by Richard Strauss