János Kulka was an Hungarian conductor and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Professional career

Kulka studied in Budapest. He was Solorepetitor and later conductor at the Hungarian State Opera House

Hungarian State Opera House

The Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. It is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886.-History:...

. Since 1957 he worked in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, at the Bavarian State Opera

Bavarian State Opera

The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...

, the Staatstheater Stuttgart

Staatstheater Stuttgart

The Staatstheater Stuttgart ' is an opera house in Stuttgart, Germany. It is also known locally as the Grosses Haus, having been the larger of two theatres of the former Königliche Hoftheater....

 and since 1961 at the Hamburg State Opera

Hamburg State Opera

The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...

. From 1964 to 1975 he was Generalmusikdirektor

Music director

A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

 in Wuppertal

Wuppertal

Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...

 and also a guest conductor in Germany and abroad. From 1976 to 1987 he was the director of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie

Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie

The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie is a German symphony orchestra based in Herford. It was founded in 1950 and, along with Philharmonie Südwestfalen and Landesjugendorchester NRW, is one of the 'official' orchestras of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia...

, recording among others works of Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in D-flat major is the sixth work of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies composed by Franz Liszt. This work was dedicated to Count Antoine of Appony and uses the form of Lassan and Friska like many other rhapsodies...

, Two Episodes of Lenau's Faust and Hunnenschlacht

Hunnenschlacht (Liszt)

Hunnenschlacht , S.105, is a symphonic poem by Franz Liszt, written in 1857 after a painting of the same name by Wilhelm von Kaulbach.The painting depicts the battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451 AD, where the Hun armies led by Attila fought a savage battle against a Roman coalition led by Roman...

. At the same time he was Staatskapellmeister in Stuttgart.

He died in Stuttgart in October 2001.

External links

• Entries for recordings by János Kulka on WorldCat
  WorldCat
  WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...