Walter Weller
Encyclopedia
Walter Weller is an Austrian
conductor
and violin
ist.
, Austria
where he first gained renown as a prodigy
on the violin. His father, also named Walter, was a violinist in the Vienna Philharmonic, and at the age of 17, the young Weller became a member, and by the unusually early age of 22 he had become joint concertmaster
with Willi Boskovsky
. He remained in this post for 11 years.
While leading the orchestra, Weller also established and led his own string quartet
from 1958 to 1969. In 1966 he married Elisabeth Samohyl with whom he had a son.
Weller’s first engagements as a conductor were in 1966, deputising at short notice for Karl Böhm
in Beethoven’s Pastoral
and Franz Schubert
’s Great C Major
symphonies and Josef Krips
Johannes Brahms
’s Piano Concerto No. 1
with Claudio Arrau
and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony
.
From 1969 Weller conducted regularly at the Vienna Volksoper
and the Vienna State Opera
.
After this he conducted in Duisburg
, Germany
. In 1977 he relocated to Great Britain
to become principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. This was followed by stints with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
from 1980 to 1986 and from 1992 to 1997 with the Scottish National Orchestra where he remains Conductor Emeritus. The Bank of Scotland
honoured Weller by printing his portrait on a special 50 pound
note
. He was the last Chief Conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra (before that ensemble joined with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Basel to form the Sinfonieorchester Basel
) and General Music Director Allgemeine Basler Musikgesellshaft (site in German) from 1994 until 1997 overlapping with his appointment as the principal guest conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra from 1987 until 2002.
Weller became Music Director of the National Orchestra of Belgium
(NOB) in 2007. He is scheduled to step down from the NOB music directorship in 2012 and to take the title of Honorary Conductor. In 2010, he became the first honorary conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
He is currently conductor laureate of the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra (site in German) and Associate Director of the Valencia Orchestra
.
included Haydn’s complete Op 33, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Alban Berg
and Dmitri Shostakovich
. Weller’s recording début as a conductor was with the Suisse Romande Orchestra, in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1
and Symphony No. 9
. His Decca cycle of the Sergei Prokofiev
symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra
and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
has remained available on LP and CD.
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
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...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist.
Biography
Weller was born in ViennaVienna
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...
, Austria
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...
where he first gained renown as a prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
on the violin. His father, also named Walter, was a violinist in the Vienna Philharmonic, and at the age of 17, the young Weller became a member, and by the unusually early age of 22 he had become joint concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
with Willi Boskovsky
Willi Boskovsky
Willi Boskovsky was an Austrian violinist and conductor, best known as the long-standing conductor of the Vienna New Year's Day Concert.-Professional biography:...
. He remained in this post for 11 years.
While leading the orchestra, Weller also established and led his own string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
from 1958 to 1969. In 1966 he married Elisabeth Samohyl with whom he had a son.
Weller’s first engagements as a conductor were in 1966, deputising at short notice for Karl Böhm
Karl Böhm
Karl August Leopold Böhm was an Austrian conductor. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century.- Education :...
in Beethoven’s Pastoral
Symphony No. 6 (Beethoven)
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the Pastoral Symphony , is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, and was completed in 1808...
and Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
’s Great C Major
Symphony No. 9 (Schubert)
The Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, known as the Great , is the final symphony completed by Franz Schubert. Nicknamed The Great C major originally to distinguish it from his Symphony No...
symphonies and Josef Krips
Josef Krips
Josef Alois Krips was an Austrian conductor and violinist.-Biography:Krips was born in Vienna and went on to become a pupil of Eusebius Mandyczewski and Felix Weingartner. From 1921 to 1924, he served as Weingartner's assistant at the Vienna Volksoper and as répétiteur and chorus master...
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
’s Piano Concerto No. 1
Piano Concerto No. 1 (Brahms)
The Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, is a work for piano and orchestra composed by Johannes Brahms in 1858. The composer gave the work's public debut in Hanover, Germany, the following year.-Form:...
with Claudio Arrau
Claudio Arrau
Claudio Arrau León was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Debussy...
and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major , also known as the Eroica , is a landmark musical work marking the full arrival of the composer's "middle-period," a series of unprecedented large scale works of emotional depth and structural rigor.The symphony is widely regarded as a mature...
.
From 1969 Weller conducted regularly at the Vienna Volksoper
Vienna Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper is a major opera house in Vienna, Austria. It gives about three hundred performances of twenty-five productions during an annual season running from September through June....
and 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...
.
After this he conducted in Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In 1977 he relocated to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
to become principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. This was followed by stints with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
from 1980 to 1986 and from 1992 to 1997 with the Scottish National Orchestra where he remains Conductor Emeritus. The Bank of Scotland
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating to the 17th century, it is the second oldest surviving bank in what is now the United Kingdom, and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to...
honoured Weller by printing his portrait on a special 50 pound
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
note
Banknote
A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...
. He was the last Chief Conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra (before that ensemble joined with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Basel to form the Sinfonieorchester Basel
Sinfonieorchester Basel
The Sinfonieorchester Basel is a Swiss orchestra based in Basel. The orchestra performs symphony concerts at the Musiksaal, Basel. The orchestra also serves as the opera orchestra and ballet orchestra for the Theater Basel...
) and General Music Director Allgemeine Basler Musikgesellshaft (site in German) from 1994 until 1997 overlapping with his appointment as the principal guest conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra from 1987 until 2002.
Weller became Music Director of the National Orchestra of Belgium
National Orchestra of Belgium
The Nationaal Orkest van België or Orchestre National de Belgique is the oldest of two major orchestras now in Belgium, along with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège....
(NOB) in 2007. He is scheduled to step down from the NOB music directorship in 2012 and to take the title of Honorary Conductor. In 2010, he became the first honorary conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
He is currently conductor laureate of the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra (site in German) and Associate Director of the Valencia Orchestra
Valencia Orchestra
The Valencia Orchestra is a Valencia Spanish symphony orchestra based in Valencia. It was founded in 1943 as the Valencia Municipal Orchestra. It is a member of the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras ....
.
Recordings
The Weller Quartet’s recordings for Decca RecordsDecca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
included Haydn’s complete Op 33, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
and Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
. Weller’s recording début as a conductor was with the Suisse Romande Orchestra, in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich)
The Symphony No. 1 in F minor by Dmitri Shostakovich was written between 1924 and 1925, and first performed in Saint Petersburg by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Nikolai Malko on 12 May 1926...
and Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 9 (Shostakovich)
Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70 was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1945. It was premiered on 3 November 1945 in Leningrad by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Evgeny Mravinsky.-Composition:...
. His Decca cycle of the Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
has remained available on LP and CD.