Ernst Märzendorfer
Encyclopedia
Ernst Märzendorfer was an Austria
n conductor
. He was the first conductor to make a complete recording of the 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn
, and conducted a number of important opera premieres.
in May 1921. He studied with Clemens Krauss
at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and was appointed as first conductor of the Graz Opera in 1945. He conducted at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires
in the early 1950s. In 1954 he became a guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival
. From 1953 to 1958, he was the principal conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg
, and led several tours with the orchestra, including a highly acclaimed American tour.
He was appointed musical director of the Salzburg Festival in Hellbrunn
in 1976, where his highlights included twenty stage works by Jacques Offenbach
. He was permanent conductor at the Vienna State Opera
in from 1961, and often appeared at the Berlin State Opera
. In 1979 he revived Franz Schmidt
's opera Fredigundis.
He died in September 2009, aged 88.
's works included:
His Richard Wagner
premieres included:
Other premieres were:
, Ernst Märzendorfer was the first conductor to make a complete recording of the 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn
, on 49 LPs; however, this had a very limited release and it is still widely believed that Antal Doráti
achieved this feat first.
Other recordings of note included:
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. He was the first conductor to make a complete recording of the 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, and conducted a number of important opera premieres.
Biography
Ernst Märzendorfer was born in Oberndorf bei SalzburgOberndorf bei Salzburg
Oberndorf bei Salzburg is a town in the Austrian state of Salzburg, about 17 km north of the City of Salzburg. It is situated on the river Salzach in the Flachgau district.-Overview:Its twin sister-town across the Salzach Bridge is Laufen in Bavaria...
in May 1921. He studied with Clemens Krauss
Clemens Krauss
Clemens Heinrich Krauss was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss.-Biography:...
at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and was appointed as first conductor of the Graz Opera in 1945. He conducted at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in the early 1950s. In 1954 he became a guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
. From 1953 to 1958, he was the principal conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg
Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg
The Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra is the symphony orchestra of the town and state of Salzburg, Austria. It was founded in 1841 and acquired its current name in 1908. It is a major participant at the Salzburg Festival....
, and led several tours with the orchestra, including a highly acclaimed American tour.
He was appointed musical director of the Salzburg Festival in Hellbrunn
Hellbrunn
Hellbrunn is Landschaftsraum in Salzburg, Salzburgerland, Austria.-Location:It is in the south of the city, being limited by the north with Fürstenweg, in the west limits with the Hellbrunner Schlossmauer, in the east with the Salzach river and in the south it's limited by Anif.- Surrounds :In this...
in 1976, where his highlights included twenty stage works by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
. He was permanent conductor at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
in from 1961, and often appeared at the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
. In 1979 he revived Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...
's opera Fredigundis.
He died in September 2009, aged 88.
Premieres
Märzendorfer's first performances of Richard StraussRichard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's works included:
- the New York premiere of CapriccioCapriccio (opera)Capriccio is the final opera by German composer Richard Strauss, subtitled "A Conversation Piece for Music". The opera received its premiere performance at the Nationaltheater München on October 28, 1942. Clemens Krauss and Strauss himself wrote the German libretto...
- the Rome premiere of Der RosenkavalierDer RosenkavalierDer Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
- the Berlin premiere of Die Frau ohne SchattenDie Frau ohne SchattenDie Frau ohne Schatten is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917...
- the Salzburg premiere of Strauss's last opera Des Esels Schatten (left incomplete by Strauss; orchestrated and completed by Karl Haussner)
- the Vienna premiere of the first version of the symphonic poem MacbethMacbeth (Strauss)Macbeth is a symphonic poem written by Richard Strauss between 1886 and 1888. The work was his first tone poem, which Strauss described as "a completely new path" for him compositionally...
.
His Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
premieres included:
- the first performances in Naples and Rome of SiegfriedSiegfried (opera)Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
- the Berlin premiere of ParsifalParsifalParsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
.
Other premieres were:
- the world premieres of Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
's Tancredi and The Idiot (in Vienna), and - the Vienna State Opera premiere of Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Les nocesLes NocesLes noces by Igor Stravinsky, is a dance cantata, or ballet with vocalists.-History:The ballet was premiered on June 13, 1923 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, by the Ballets Russes with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska...
.
Recordings
With the Vienna Chamber OrchestraVienna Chamber Orchestra
The Vienna Chamber Orchestra is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus....
, Ernst Märzendorfer was the first conductor to make a complete recording of the 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, on 49 LPs; however, this had a very limited release and it is still widely believed that Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...
achieved this feat first.
Other recordings of note included:
- Vincenzo BelliniVincenzo BelliniVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
: I Capuleti e i MontecchiI Capuleti e i MontecchiI Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare... - Georges BizetGeorges BizetGeorges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
: CarmenCarmenCarmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin... - Emilio de' CavalieriEmilio de' CavalieriEmilio de' Cavalieri was an Italian composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer and dancer at the end of the Renaissance era. His work, along with that of other composers active in Rome, Florence and Venice, was critical in defining the beginning of the musical Baroque era...
: Rappresentatione di Anima, et di CorpoRappresentatione di Anima, et di CorpoEmilio de Cavalieri regarded himself as the composer of the first opera or oratorio, with the Rappresentatione di anima e di corpo,... - Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
: Lucia di LammermoorLucia di LammermoorLucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor.... - Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
: Les HuguenotsLes HuguenotsLes Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps.... - Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
: AidaAidaAida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, La traviataLa traviataLa traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
and NabuccoNabuccoNabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue... - Harp concertos by MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, BoieldieuFrançois-Adrien BoïeldieuFrançois-Adrien Boieldieu was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".-Biography:...
, RodrigoJoaquín RodrigoJoaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
, HandelGeorge Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, SpohrLouis SpohrLouis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludewig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name. Described by Dorothy Mayer as "The Forgotten Master", Spohr was once as famous as Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria...
and others, with Nicanor ZabaletaNicanor ZabaletaNicanor Zabaleta was a Spanish virtuoso and populariser of the harp.Zabaleta was born in San Sebastián, Spain, on January 7, 1907. In 1914 his father, an amateur musician, bought him a harp in an antique shop. He soon began taking lessons from Vincenta Tormo de Calvo and Luisa Menarguez... - Alberto GinasteraAlberto GinasteraAlberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
: Piano Concerto No. 1 - he recorded 12 volumes of the complete edition of Johann Strauss IJohann Strauss IJohann Strauss I , born in Vienna, was an Austrian Romantic composer famous for his waltzes, and for popularizing them alongside Joseph Lanner, thereby setting the foundations for his sons to carry on his musical dynasty...
's works with the Slovak Sinfonietta, and 17 CDs of the music of Josef StraussJosef StraussJosef Strauss was an Austrian composer.He was born in Vienna, the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss. His father wanted him to choose a career in the Austrian Habsburg military...
, with the Kosice Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra.