Christoph von Dohnányi
Christoph von Dohnányi (German: [ˈkʁɪstɔf fɔn ˈdɔxnaːnjiː]; born 8 September 1929) is a German conductor.
Biography
Youth and World War II
Dohnányi was born in
Education and early engagements
After
His first position as assistant was at the
As director of the Oper Frankfurt and with his team including
Cleveland years
Christoph von Dohnányi made his conducting debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in December 1981 and was named “Music Director Designate” the following year.[3]: Plate 83 However, he would not begin his tenure as music director until 1984.[3]: 484 During the intervening two years, the Orchestra invited a number of guest conductors to lead the ensemble, including former music director Erich Leinsdorf for six weeks of subscription concerts. Leinsdorf would remark that he was the "bridge between the regimes."[3]: 491 Before taking the podium as the Orchestra’s sixth music director, Dohnányi made guest appearances with other American orchestras, including those in Detroit, Pittsburgh, and New York, as well as leading The Cleveland Orchestra in its annual gala concert and recordings at Severance Hall.[3]: 492 As Dohnányi began his first season as music director, he brought with him contacts that would push the Orchestra forward with a variety of recording projects.[3]: 497 Near the end of the 1984-85 season, Dohnányi announced an ambitious idea: The Cleveland Orchestra would use its summer home, Blossom Music Center, to perform a fully-staged opera: Mozart's The Magic Flute. The production, which was attended by 15,000 people, was labeled "the Ohio musical event of the summer" by The Columbus Dispatch.[3]: 499 Dohnányi also oversaw the hiring of Indonesian-born conductor Jahja Ling, who would lead the newly-established Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which had its first concert in February 1987.[3]: 505
In addition to making recording a hallmark of his tenure as music director through the Orchestra's ongoing association with several labels (Teldec, Decca/London, and Telarc),[3]: 507–508 Dohnányi focused much of his attention on international touring. In 1986, the Orchestra embarked on its sixth tour of Europe and its first international tour under Dohnányi, performing twenty-one concerts in seventeen cities across Western Europe.[3]: 502 Not only would the Orchestra continue with international touring to Europe or East Asia nearly every season, it would also embark on tours of European festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, where the Orchestra’s long-standing relationship would begin after a performance in 1990.[3]: 518, 523 Because of the departure or retirement of several musicians between 1988 and 1990, Dohnányi was tasked with hiring new Orchestra members,[3]: 511 including a replacement for Robert Page, who had been the longtime director of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.[3]: 512 Furthermore, Leonard Slatkin, the former music director of the St. Louis Symphony, was appointed Blossom Festival Director beginning in the summer of 1991.[3]: 519
To celebrate The Cleveland Orchestra’s 75th anniversary, Dohnányi led performances of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle at Severance Hall during the 1992–93 and 1993-94 seasons.[3]: 524–525 Although the ensemble’s intention was to become the first symphony orchestra in the United States to record the four-opera, fifteen-hour musical monument, financial restrictions limited the Orchestra to recording only the first two operas — Das Rheingold and Die Walküre.[3]: 534–535
In 1992, Dohnányi signed a new contract that extended his tenure as music director through the 1999-2000 season.[3]: 528 A few years later, the Orchestra began a fundraising campaign for the renovation of Severance Hall, which included the removal of the “Szell Shell,” a return of the E.M. Skinner organ to the stage, and an expansion of internal facilities to enhance the experience of concertgoers.[3]: 537–538 Dohnányi signed his final contract as music director with the Orchestra in 1997, extending his tenure until 2002.[3]: 540, 542
As international touring continued, the Orchestra visited the People’s Republic of China for the first time in 1998.[3]: 543 During the spring of 1999, the Orchestra moved to Cleveland’s Playhouse Square for a residency at the Allen Theatre until the renovation of Severance Hall was completed.[3]: 544 On January 8, 2000, Dohnányi led a gala concert to celebrate the re-opening of Severance Hall, which was broadcast live on local television by Cleveland’s WVIZ.[3]: 545 Dohnányi finished out his contract — eventually succeeded by Franz Welser-Möst in 2002[3]: 548 — and was named Music Director Laureate of The Cleveland Orchestra.
After Cleveland
In 1994, Dohnányi became the principal guest conductor of London's Philharmonia Orchestra, and in 1997 their Principal Conductor.[4] In April 2007, Dohnányi was one of eight conductors of British orchestras to endorse the 10-year classical music outreach manifesto, "Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st Century", to increase the presence of classical music in the UK, including giving free entry to all British schoolchildren to a classical music concert.[5][6] In 2008, he stepped down from the Philharmonia principal conductorship and now holds the title with the orchestra of "Honorary Conductor for Life".
After retiring as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, Dohnányi has been a guest conductor with the
In 2004, Dohnányi returned to Hamburg, Germany where he maintained a residence for many years, to become chief conductor of the
With the Philharmonia Orchestra, Dohnányi performed throughout Europe at such venues as the
Assistants to Christoph von Dohnányi
Michael Stern, music director and lead conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, was assistant conductor to Dohnányi from 1986 to 1991 at the Cleveland Orchestra.
Family
Dohnányi was married to the German actress Renate Zillessen; they had two children, Katja and Justus. His second wife was the German soprano Anja Silja, with whom he had three children: Julia, Benedikt and Olga. Since 2004 Dohnányi has been married to Barbara Koller.[1]
References
- ^ a b von Rhein, John (8 February 2005). "Distinguished Heir to a Great Tradition - Conductor Christoph von Dohnányi". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008.
- ^ Kettle, Martin (12 June 2002). "The secret of my success". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-886228-24-5.
- ^ a b c d e "Christoph von Dohnányi". Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016.
- ^ "Pupils get free concert tickets". BBC News. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
- ^ Higgins, Charlotte (26 April 2007). "Orchestras urge free concerts for children". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
- ^ "Thomas Hengelbrock wird neuer Chefdirigent" (Press release). NDR Symphony Orchestra. 27 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
- ^ "Artistic Director & Chief Conductor – CYSO". 7 March 2016.
- ^ "Jens Georg Bachmann - Biography".
Sources
- ISBN 1-886228-24-8.
- Klaus Schultz (ed.), Offen sein zu - hören. Der Dirigent Christoph von Dohnányi. Hamburg: Murmann 2010, 281 p. ISBN 978-3-86774-074-6[The book contains a discography.]
External links
- http://christophvondohnanyi.com
- Christoph von Dohnányi at AllMusic
- Christoph von Dohnányi biography at the Philharmonia
- Christoph von Dohnányi biography at the Cleveland Orchestra
- Colbert Artists Management Inc.
- Interview with Christoph von Dohnányi, February 9, 2005