Wolfgang Sawallisch

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Wolfgang Sawallisch (born August 26, 1923) is a German conductor and pianist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Sawallisch was born in Munich, and began his career at the opera house in Augsburg in 1947.[1]

In 1953 he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, becoming the youngest person ever to do so. When he debuted at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus conducting Tristan und Isolde in 1957, he was the youngest conductor ever to appear there as well.

From 1960 to 1970 he was Principal Conductor of the Vienna Symphony. From 1971 to 1992, Sawallisch was Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera, and for several years from 1983, concurrently was the general manager of the company.

From 1993 to 2003 he was Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and is currently its Conductor Laureate. He is also Honorary Conductor Laureate of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo.

After his tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Sawallisch returned for guest-conducting appearances in Philadelphia and at Carnegie Hall.[2] However, ill health related to orthostatic hypotension prevented Sawallisch from conducting in subsequent years.[3] In an article from The Philadelphia Inquirer of August 27, 2006, Sawallisch himself stated his retirement from the concert podium:

"It can happen without announcement that my blood pressure is too low. This instability gives me the necessity to finish my career after 57 years of concert and opera conducting."[4]

Sawallisch and his wife Mechthild were married for 46 years until her death in 1998.[5] They had a son, Jörg. Sawallisch is an honorary member of The Robert Schumann Society. In 2003, Sawallisch helped to establish a music school in Grassau, Germany, the Wolfgang Sawallisch Stiftung (Foundation).

[edit] Prominent interpretations

Sawallisch has been acclaimed as an interpreter of the music of Richard Strauss.[6] [7] [8] As a pianist, he has accompanied a number of prominent singers in lieder, including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dame Margaret Price. He has also been acclaimed for his interpretations of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner.[9]

Sawallisch has also recorded, as piano accompanist, Franz Schubert's Die Winterreise and Robert Schumann's Liederkreis and other songs with Thomas Hampson. One of his most celebrated live concert appearances as a pianist was on 11 February 1994 in Philadelphia, when Sawallisch substituted for The Philadelphia Orchestra at an all-Wagner concert on the night that a severe snow storm prevented much of the orchestra from arriving at the Academy of Music.[10][11] [12]

[edit] Recording highlights

His other recordings for EMI include highly regarded issues of Richard Strauss' Capriccio and the four symphonies of Robert Schumann with the Dresden Staatskapelle. He made a quadrophonic stereo album (probably the only one ever made) of Mozart's The Magic Flute in 1973 for EMI, starring Peter Schreier as Tamino, Walter Berry as Papageno, Edda Moser as the Queen of the Night, Anneliese Rothenberger as Pamina, and Kurt Moll as Sarastro. Other recordings (EMI, Orfeo and Sony) include:

  • Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
  • Johannes Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Choir
  • Johannes Brahms' Symphonies Nos. 1-4 with the London Philharmonic
  • Anton Bruckner' Symphonies 1, 4, 5, 6 & 9
  • Antonín Dvořák's Requiem, and Stabat Mater, both w. Cz. Ph.; Symphonies Nos. 7-9 and Cello Concerto with The Philadelphia Orchestra
  • Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Dusseldorf Chorus
  • Franz Schubert's 9 Symphonies w. Dresden Staatskapelle; Sacred Choral Works with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
  • Richard Strauss' Intermezzo, Elektra, Friedenstag and Die Frau ohne Schatten, Arabella with the Bavarian State Opera
  • Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, Symphonia domestica, and Also sprach Zarathustra with the Philadelphia Orchestra
  • Richard Strauss' Horn Concertos, with Dennis Brain and the Philharmonia
  • Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth (live recording, Salzburg Festival)
  • Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die Feen with the Bavarian State Opera; The Flying Dutchman and Lohengrin (Bayreuth Festival)
  • Richard Wagner's Wesendock Lieder with Marjana Lipovsek and The Philadelphia Orchestra

One of his final concert and recording projects in Philadelphia focused on the music of Robert Schumann.[13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stephen Moss. "Old school titan", The Guardian, 19 May 2000. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. 
  2. ^ Anthony Tommasini. "Channeling Bruckner, Maestro Illuminates Elusive Score", The New York Times, 15 Jan 2004. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. 
  3. ^ Ben Mattison. "Report: Wolfgang Sawallisch Has Retired", Playbill Arts, 31 March 2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-11. 
  4. ^ Peter Dobrin, "At home with the maestro". Philadelphia Inquirer, 27 August 2006.
  5. ^ James R. Oestreich. "A 79-Year-Old Champion of Youth", New York Times, 4 May 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-11. 
  6. ^ Edward Rothstein. "A Cheery, Old-World 'Ariadne'", New York Times, 17 May 1995. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. 
  7. ^ Anne Midgette. "Music: A Musical Capital Looks to America", New York Times, 5 Aug 2001. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. 
  8. ^ Paul Horsley. "A Hero's Tenure", Playbill Arts, 1 April 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-11. 
  9. ^ Anthony Tommasini. "Channeling Bruckner, Maestro Illuminates Elusive Score", New York Times, 15 January 2004. Retrieved on 2008-01-11. 
  10. ^ Lesley Valdes and Peter Dobrin. "Snow or no snow, the show went on", Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 Feb 1994. 
  11. ^ Tom Di Nardo. "Bons mots instead of notes from Maestro", Philadelphia Daily News, 28 Feb 1994. 
  12. ^ Nadine Brozan. "Chronicle", New York Times, 15 February 1994. Retrieved on 2008-01-11. 
  13. ^ Allan Kozinn. "Back to Schumann, With Care and Passion", The New York Times, 19 Oct 2002. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Vienna Symphony Principal Conductors

Ferdinand Löwe (1900) · Wilhelm Furtwängler (1920s) · Oswald Kabasta (1933) · Hans Swarowsky (1946) · Herbert von Karajan (1948) · Wolfgang Sawallisch (1960) · Josef Krips (1970) · Carlo Maria Giulini (1973) · Gennady Rozhdestvensky (1980) · Georges Prêtre (1986) · Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (1991) · Vladimir Fedoseyev (1997) · Fabio Luisi (2005)
v • d • e
Bayerisches Staatsorchester General Music Directors

Franz Lachner (1836) · Hans von Bülow (1867) · Franz Wüllner (1870) · Hermann Levi (1872) · Richard Strauss (1894) · Hermann Zumpe (1901) · Felix Mottl (1904) · Bruno Walter (1913) · Hans Knappertsbusch (1922) · Clemens Krauss (1937) · Hans Knappertsbusch (1945) · Georg Solti (1946) · Rudolf Kempe (1952) · Ferenc Fricsay (1956) · Joseph Keilberth (1959) · Wolfgang Sawallisch (1971) · Peter Schneider (1992) · Zubin Mehta (1998) · Kent Nagano (2006)
v • d • e
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Music Directors

Ernest Ansermet (1918) · Paul Kletzki (1967) · Wolfgang Sawallisch (1972) · Horst Stein (1980) · Armin Jordan (1985) · Fabio Luisi (1997) · Pinchas Steinberg (2002) · Marek Janowski (2005)
v • d • e
Bayerische Staatsoper Directors

Karl von Perfall (1867) • Ernst von Possart (1895) • Clemens von Franckenstein (1912) • Clemens Krauss (1937) • Georg Hartmann (1947) • Rudolf Hartmann (1952) • Günther Rennert (1967) • August Everding (1977) • Wolfgang Sawallisch (1983) • Peter Jonas (1993) • Kent Nagano (2006)
v • d • e
Philadelphia Orchestra Music Directors

Fritz Scheel (1900) · Karl Pohlig (1908) · Leopold Stokowski (1912) · Eugene Ormandy (1936) · Riccardo Muti (1980) · Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993) · Christoph Eschenbach (2003)