Walter Weller
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Walter Weller (born 30 November 1939 in Vienna) is an Austrian conductor. [1]
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[edit] Early years
Weller first gained renown as a prodigy on the violin. His father was a violinist in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and at the age of 17, the young Weller became a member, and by the unusually early age of 22 he had become joint concertmaster with Willi Boskovsky. He remained in this post for 11 years.
While leading the orchestra, Weller also established and led his own string quartet from 1958 to 1969.[2]
[edit] Conducting
Weller’s first engagements as a conductor were in 1966, deputising at short notice for Karl Böhm (in Beethoven’s Pastoral and Schubert’s Great C Major symphonies) and Josef Krips (Brahms’s First Piano Concerto with Claudio Arrau and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony.)
From 1969 Weller conducted regularly at the Vienna Volksoper and the Vienna State Opera. [3]
After this he conducted in Duisberg. In 1977 he relocated to Great Britain to become Principal Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. This was followed by stints with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1980 to 1986 and from 1991 to 1996 the Scottish National Orchestra. The Bank of Scotland honoured Weller by printing his portrait on a special 50 pound note.
[edit] Recordings
The Weller Quartet’s recordings for Decca included Haydn’s complete Op 33, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Berg and Shostakovich.[4] Weller’s recording début as a conductor was with the Suisse Romande Orchestra, in Shostakovich’s First and Ninth Symphonies. His Decca cycle of the Prokofiev symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra has remained available on LP and CD. [5]
[edit] References
- Who’s Who, London, A & C Black
- The Gramophone, February 1973
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Heinz Wallberg |
Principal Conductors, Tonkünstler Orchestra 1975–1978 |
Succeeded by Miltiades Caridis |
| Preceded by Charles Groves |
Principal Conductors, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 1977–1980 |
Succeeded by David Atherton |
| Preceded by Antal Doráti |
Principal Conductors, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 1980–1985 |
Succeeded by André Previn |
| Preceded by Bryden Thomson |
Principal Conductors, Royal Scottish National Orchestra 1991–1996 |
Succeeded by Alexander Lazarev |
