Wolfgang Sawallisch
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Categories: 1923 births | German classical pianists | German conductors | Living people | Opera directors
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Wolfgang Sawallisch (born August 26, 1923) is a German conductor and pianist.
BiographySawallisch 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:
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). Prominent interpretationsSawallisch 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 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 snowstorm prevented much of the orchestra from arriving at the Academy of Music.[10][11] [12] Recording highlightsHis 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:
One of his final concert and recording projects in Philadelphia focused on the music of Robert Schumann.[13] References
External links
es:Wolfgang Sawallisch fr:Wolfgang Sawallisch it:Wolfgang Sawallisch he:וולפגנג זאוואליש ja:ヴォルフガング・サヴァリッシュ ru:Заваллиш, Вольфганг fi:Wolfgang Sawallisch |
