NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Bruno Walter

Bruno Walter (Bruno Walter Schlesinger) (September 15, 1876 – February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor and composer. He was born in Berlin, but moved to several countries between 1933 and 1939, finally settling in the United States in 1939. He began using Walter as his surname in 1896, and officially upon naturalising to Austria in 1911. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Beverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County, California. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article discusses classical music in the first sense (see below). ... A conductor conducting a band at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... In education, teachers are those who teach students or pupils, often a course of study or a practical skill. ... Categories: Stub | Opera companies ... The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is a German orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. ... The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842. ... is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A conductor conducting a band at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Naturalization is the process whereby a person becomes a national of a nation, or a citizen of a country, other than the one of his birth. ...

Biography

Born near Alexanderplatz in Berlin to a middle-class Jewish family, Walter began his musical education at the Stern Conservatory at the age of eight, making his first public appearance as a pianist when he was nine. However, following visits to one of Hans von Bülow's concerts in 1889 and to Bayreuth in 1891, Walter changed his mind and decided upon a conducting career. He made his conducting début at the Cologne Opera with Lortzing's Waffenschmied in 1894. Later that year he left for the Hamburg Opera to work as a chorus director, where he first met and worked with Gustav Mahler, whom he idolized and with whose music he would later be strongly identified. Alexanderplatz from Fernsehturm Alexanderplatz is a large open square and public transport hub in central Berlin, near the Spree river and the Berliner Dom. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... The middle class, in colloquial usage, consists of those people who have a degree of economic independence, but not a great deal of social influence or power. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... Hans von BÃ¼low. ... The Bayreuth Festspielhaus (Bayreuth Festival Theatre) is an opera house built to the north of the town of Bayreuth in Germany, dedicated to the performance of Richard Wagners operas. ... Gustav Albert Lortzing (October 23, 1801 - January 21, 1851) was a German composer. ... This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. ...

In 1896 Walter took a conducting position at the opera house in Breslau—a job found for him by Mahler. This was where Walter started to drop his surname "Schlesinger", at the request of either Mahler or the director, in order to make his name sound less Jewish.^[1] In 1897, he took an opera-conducting position at Pressburg, and in 1898 he took one in Riga, Latvia. Then Walter returned in 1900 to Berlin, where he assumed the post of Royal Prussian Conductor at the Berlin Royal Opera House, succeeding Franz Schalk; his colleagues there included Richard Strauss and Karl Muck. While at Berlin he also conducted the Berlin premiere of Der arme Heinrich by Hans Pfitzner, a composer who would become a lifelong friend of his. Preßburg is the historical name (in German and in English) for the city of Bratislava. ... Riga (Latvian: RÄ«ga), the capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of River Daugava, at 56Â°58â€²N 24Â°8â€²E. Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states and serves as a major cultural, educational, political, financial, commercial and industrial center... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Franz Schalk (born 27 May 1863 in Vienna, died 3 September 1931 in Edlach, Austria) was an Austrian conductor. ... This article is about the German composer of tone-poems and operas. ... Karl Muck (1859 - 1940) was a German conductor. ... Hans Pfitzner (May 5, 1869 - May 22, 1949) was a German composer and self-described anti-modernist. ...

In 1901 Walter accepted Mahler's invitation to be his assistant at the Court Opera in Vienna. Walter led Verdi's Aida at his debut. In the following years Walter's conducting reputation soared as he was invited to conduct throughout Europe -- in Prague, London (where in 1910 he conducted Tristan und Isolde and Ethel Smyth's The Wreckers at Covent Garden) and in Rome. A few months after Mahler's death in 1911, Walter led the first performance of Das Lied von der Erde in Munich, as well as Mahler's Ninth Symphony in Vienna the next year. â€œWienâ€ redirects here. ... VERDI is an acronym for the Italian unification movement, named after the composer Giuseppe Verdi (ardent supporter of the movement) VERDI stands for Vittorio Emmanuelle, Re D Italia (Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy) Categories: Historical stubs ... AIDA is an acronym used in marketing that describes a common list of events that are very often undergone when a person is selling a product or service: A - Attention (Awareness): attract the attention of the customer. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... Nickname: Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: , Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government - Mayor Pavel BÃ©m Area - City 496 kmÂ² (191. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Strassburg, which in turn was based on the story of Tristan and Iseult as told in French by Thomas of... John Singer Sargent: Ethel Smyth, 1901 Dame Ethel Mary Smyth [1] (April 23, 1858 - May 8, 1944) was an English composer and a leader of the womens suffrage movement. ... The Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House is a performing arts venue in London. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area - City 1,285 kmÂ² (580 sq mi) - Urban 5... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... â€œWienâ€ redirects here. ...

Although Walter became an Austrian citizen in 1911, he left Vienna to become the Royal Bavarian Music Director in Munich in 1913. In January the next year Walter conducted his first concert in Moscow. During the First World War, he remained actively involved in conducting, giving premieres to Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violanta and Der Ring des Polykrates as well as Pfitzner's Palestrina. Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: , Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area - City 1,081 kmÂ² (417. ... â€œThe Great War â€ redirects here. ... Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897 â€“ November 29, 1957) was a composer. ...

Walter ended his appointment in Munich in 1922, and left for New York, the United States in 1923, working with the New York Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall; he later conducted in Detroit, Minnesota and Boston. The New York Symphony Society was an orchestra founded in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. ... Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street. ... Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815 County Wayne County Mayor... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area Ranked 12th - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 400 miles (645 km) - % water 8. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area - City 232. ...

Back in Europe Walter was re-engaged for several appointments, including Berlin in 1925, as musical director at the Städtische Opera, Charlottenburg and Leipzig in 1929. He made his debut at La Scala in 1926. In London, Walter was chief conductor of the German seasons at Covent Garden from 1924 to 1931. Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, by night. ...

In 1933, when the Nazi party began to bar his musical appointments in Germany, Walter left for Austria. Austria would remain the main center of activity for the next several years, although he was also a frequent guest conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1934 to 1939, and made guest appearances such as in annual concerts with the New York Philharmonic from 1932 to 1936. When Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, France offered Walter citizenship, which he accepted; however, in November 1, 1939, he eventually set sail for the United States, which became his permanent home. Beverly Hills, California remained Walter's residence for many years, and his many expatriate neighbors included the German writer Thomas Mann. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest in Dutch) is the best known and most respected orchestra in the Netherlands, and is generally considered to be among the worlds finest. ... The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Beverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County, California. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Paul Thomas Mann (June 6, 1875 â€“ August 12, 1955) was a German novelist, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and often ironic epic novels and mid-length stories, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and intellectual. ...

While Walter had many influences within music, in his Of Music and Making (1957) he notes a profound influence from the philosopher Rudolf Steiner. He notes, "In old age I have had the good fortune to be initiated into the world of anthroposophy and during the past few years to make a profound study of the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. Here we see alive and in operation that deliverance of which Hoelderlin speaks; its blessing has flowed over me, and so this book is the confession of belief in anthroposophy. There is no part of I my inward life that has not had new light shed upon it, or been stimulated, by the lofty teachings of Rudolf Steiner ... I am profoundly grateful for having been so boundlessly enriched ... It is glorious to become a learner again at my time of life. I have a sense of the rejuvenation of my whole being which gives strength and renewal to my musicianship, even to my music-making." Rudolf Steiner. ... Anthroposophy, also called spiritual science, is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner,[1] which states that anyone who conscientiously cultivates sense-free thinking can attain experience of and insights into the spiritual world. ...

During his years in the United States, Walter worked with many famous American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (where he was musical adviser from 1947 to 1949), and the Philadelphia Orchestra. From 1946 onwards, he made numerous trips back to Europe, becoming an important musical figure in the early years of the Edinburgh Festival and in Salzburg, Vienna and Munich. His late life was marked by stereo recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. He made his last live concert appearance on December 4, 1960 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Van Cliburn. His last recording was a series of Mozart overtures with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra at the end of March in 1961. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading orchestras in the world. ... The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. ... Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall]] The NBC Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company as a vehicle for conductor Arturo Toscanini. ... The New York Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in New York City. ... The Philadelphia Orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the Big Five symphony orchestras in the United States and usually considered among the finest in the world. ... There is no one Edinburgh Festival but those using the term are usually referring to the collection of various festivals in August and early September of each year in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... (Austro-Bavarian: SÃ¥izburg) is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. ... The Columbia Symphony Orchestra is, (or was) an orchestra formed by the recording company Columbia, and provided a vehicle for some of their better known recording artists, with perhaps the most important contributions made by the conductor Bruno Walter, who made recordings of Beethoven and Mozart symphonies, amongst others, with... December 4th redirects here. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. ... Cliburn playing in the final round of the First International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition Harvey Lavan Cliburn Jr. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ...

Bruno Walter died of a heart attack in his Beverly Hills home in 1962. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI or MI), more commonly known as a heart attack, is a disease state that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted. ...

Work

Recordings

Walter's work was documented on hundreds of recordings made between 1923 (when he was nearly 50) and 1961. Most listeners became familiar with him through the stereo recordings made in his last few years, when his health was declining. But many critics agree that these recordings do not fully convey what Walter's art must have sounded like in its prime. For one thing, the late recordings sometimes have a geniality that contrasts with the more mercurial, intense, and energetic performances Walter recorded in earlier decades. For another, the late recordings focus mostly on music from Mozart through Mahler, but in Walter's youth he often conducted what was then newer music (including Mahler).

Walter worked closely with Mahler as an assistant and protege. Mahler did not live to perform his Das Lied von der Erde or Ninth Symphony, but his widow, Alma Mahler, asked Walter to premiere both. Walter led the first performance of Das Lied in 1911 in Munich and of the Ninth in 1912 in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic. Decades later, Walter and the Vienna Philharmonic (with Mahler's brother-in-law Arnold Rose still the concertmaster) made the first recordings of Das Lied von der Erde in 1936 and of the Ninth Symphony in 1938. The latter was recorded live in concert, two months before the Nazi Anschluss drove Walter (and Rose) into exile. These recordings are of special interest for the performance practices of the orchestra and also for intensity of expression. Walter was to re-record both works quite successfully in later decades. He recorded the Ninth in stereo in 1961, and one of his most cherished recordings is his 1951 Das Lied von der Erde with Kathleen Ferrier, Julius Patzak, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Walter also made a 1960 studio recording of Das Lied with the New York Philharmonic. This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. ... Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) is particularly interesting among Gustav Mahlers symphonic works. ... The Symphony No. ... Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) is particularly interesting among Gustav Mahlers symphonic works. ... Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) is particularly interesting among Gustav Mahlers symphonic works. ... Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier CBE (22 April 1912 â€“ 8 October 1953) was an English contralto born in Blackburn, and later moved with her family to Higher Walton, Lancashire. ... The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (in German: Wiener Philharmoniker) an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered as one of the finest in the world. ...

Nonetheless, Walter regretted that he could never hear Mahler himself conduct the Ninth and Das Lied; these performances should not be considered documentations of the composer's interpretations.

Walter's various other recordings of Mahler - various songs and the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth symphonies - are highly prized. Walter's personal connection with the composer would by itself add great interest to them (in most of these works Walter did have direct experience of the composer's performances). More importantly, their musical qualities strike many critics and musicians as outstanding.

Walter made many highly acclaimed recordings of other great Germanic composers, such as Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Johann Strauss Jr., and Anton Bruckner, as well as of Bach, Wagner, Schumann, Dvorak, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Smetana, and others. Walter was a leading conductor of opera, particularly known for his Mozart, and recordings of some from the Metropolitan Opera and the Salzburg Festival are now available on CD. So are performances of Wagner, Verdi, and Beethoven's Fidelio. Also of great interest are recordings from the 1950s of his rehearsals of Mozart, Mahler, and Brahms, which give insight into his musical priorities and into the warm and non-tyrannical manner (as contrasted with some of his colleagues) with which he related to orchestras. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 â€“ December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... Portrait by Thomas Hardy, 1792 Franz Joseph Haydn[1] (March 31, 1732 â€“ May 31, 1809) was one of the most prominent composers of the Classical period, and is called by some the Father of the Symphony and Father of the String Quartet. A life-long resident of Austria, Haydn spent... A portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820 Ludwig van Beethoven (IPA: ), (baptized December 17, 1770[1] â€“ March 26, 1827) was a German composer. ... â€œBrucknerâ€ redirects here. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ... Fidelio (Op. ...

Compositions

Walter only composed in his early years. Later he decided to be "not a composer." His compositions include:

Written works

Discography

Kerstin Thorborg (1896-1970) Born in Sweden, the contralto Kerstin Thorborg was one of the most dramatic Wagnerian singers in the two decades between 1930 and 1950. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... June 4 is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... OCLC Online Computer Library Center was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC). ... OCLC Online Computer Library Center was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC). ...

External links

Categories: 1876 births | 1962 deaths | German conductors | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Jewish classical musicians | Jewish composers and songwriters | Musicians who left Nazi Germany | People from Berlin | Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... The German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) was established in 1990 during the German reunification by merging the Deutsche BÃ¼cherei Leipzig (founded 1912, later the national library of East Germany) and the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt (founded 1947, later the national library of West Germany). ... Sony Classical is the successor to the Columbia and CBS Masterworks labels, assuming its new identity after the purchase of CBS Records by Sony Corporation. ... Felix Mottl (1856-1911) was an Austrian conductor and composer. ... Munich, National Theatre The Bayerische Staatsoper or Bavarian State Opera is an opera company in Munich and is one of the leading opera companies in Germany and the world and has existed since 1653. ... Hans Knappertsbusch (March 12, 1888 - October 25, 1965) German conductor born in Elberfeld (present-day Wuppertal), best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss. ... Wilhelm FurtwÃ¤ngler (January 25, 1886 â€“ November 30, 1954) was a German conductor and composer. ... The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is a German orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. ... Hermann Abendroth (born January 19 1883, Frankfurt, died May 29 1956, Jena) was a German conductor. ... The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842. ... Ureli Corelli Hill,founder and first conducter of the New York Philharmonic New York Philharmonic Archives Ureli Corelli Hill (1802 - September 2, 1875) was an American conductor notable for being the first president and conductor of the New York Philharmonic Society. ... Theodore Eisfeld was a nineteenth century conductor, and the second music director of the New York Philharmonic Society. ... Carl Bergmann was a nineteenth century conductor and third music director the and the New York Philharmonic Society. ... Leopold Damrosch (1831 - 1885) was an orchestral conductor. ... Theodore Thomas (born October 11, 1835, in Esens, East Friesland (now Germany) â€“ died January 4, 1905, in Chicago, Illinois) was a German-American violinist and conductor. ... Anton Seidl (7 May 1850 - 28 March 1898) was a Hungarian conductor. ... Emil Paur (born 1855 in Czernowitz, Austria, now Ukraine, died 1932 in Mistek, Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic) was an Austrian conductor. ... Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (born in Breslau, Prussia, January 30, 1862; died in New York City, December 22, 1950) was an American symphony conductor. ... Vasily Ilyich Safonov (Ð’Ð°ÑÐ¸ÌÐ»Ð¸Ð¹ Ð˜Ð»ÑŒÐ¸ÌÑ‡ Ð¡Ð°Ñ„Ð¾ÌÐ½Ð¾Ð²) (February 6, 1852 - February 27, 1918); Russian pianist, teacher, conductor and composer. ... This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. ... Josef Stransky (1872-1936) was a Czech conductor. ... Willem Mengelberg (Utrecht, Netherlands on March 28, 1871 â€“ Zuort, Switzerland on March 21, 1951) was a Dutch conductor. ... Arturo Toscanini (March 25, 1867 â€“ January 16, 1957) was an Italian musician. ... Sir John (Giovanni Battista) Barbirolli (December 2, 1899 - July 29, 1970), was a British conductor and cellist who led the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. ... Artur RodziÅ„ski (January 1, 1892 - November 27, 1958) was a Polish conductor. ... Leopold Stokowski (born Antoni StanisÅ‚aw BolesÅ‚awowicz April 18, 1882 in London, England, died September 13, 1977 in Nether Wallop, England) was the conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Symphony of the Air. ... Dimitris Mitropoulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος) (March 1, 1896 – November 2, 1960) was a Greek conductor, pianist, and composer who spent most of his career in the United States. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (IPA pronunciation: )[1] (August 25, 1918 â€“ October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, and pianist. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez (IPA: /pjÉ›Ê.buËˆlÉ›z/) (born March 26, 1925) is a conductor and composer of classical music. ... Zubin Mehta (born April 29, 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. ... Kurt Masur Conducting Mendelssohns Scottish Symphony Kurt Masur (born July 18, 1927) is a German conductor. ... Lorin Varencove Maazel (born March 6, 1930) is a conductor, violinist and composer. ...

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