Rudolf Kempe (June 14, 1910 – May 12, 1976) was a German conductor. Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures
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Biography
Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German He played oboe in the opera orchestra at Dortmund and then in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, from 1929. "Hautbois" redirects here for the strawberry variety see Hautbois strawberry. Dortmund (ˈdɔʁtmʊnt is a City in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. The Gewandhausorchester Leipzig ( Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra) is a famous German Orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. In addition to oboe, he played the piano regularly, as a soloist, in chamber music or accompanying, as a result of which, in 1933, the new Director of the Leipzig Opera invited Kempe to become a répétiteur, and later a conductor, for the opera. Répétiteur (Fr repetitore (It or Korrepetitor / Repetitor (Ger [1]
During the Second World War Kempe was conscripted into the army, but instead of active service was directed into musical activities, playing for the troops and later taking over the chief conductorship of the Chemnitz opera house. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Chemnitz (1953–1990 Karl-Marx-Stadt ( Sorbian:Kamjenica is a City in Eastern Germany. [1]
Career
Opera
Kempe directed the Dresden Opera and the Dresden Staatskapelle from 1949 to 1952, making his first records, including Der Rosenkavalier, Die Meistersinger and Der Freischütz. The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden ( Saxon State Orchestra Dresden) is an Orchestra based in Dresden, Germany founded in 1548 Der Rosenkavalier ( op 59 ( The Knight of the Rose) is a comic Opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) is an Opera in three acts written and composed by Richard Wagner Der Freischütz is an Opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber to a Libretto by Friedrich Kind. ‘He obtains some superlative playing from the Dresden orchestra,’ commented The Record Guide. [2] He maintained a relationship with the Dresden orchestra for the rest of his life, making some of his best-known records with them during the stereo era.
His international career began with engagements at the Vienna State Opera in the 1951 season, for which he conducted Die Zauberflöte, Simon Boccanegra, and Capriccio. The Vienna State Opera ( Wiener Staatsoper) located in Vienna, Austria, is one of the most important Opera houses - and opera companies - in The Magic Flute (German Die Zauberflöte, K 620 is an Opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Simon Boccanegra is an Opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based Capriccio is the final Opera by German composer Richard Strauss, subtitled "A Conversation Piece for Music" [1]
He was invited to succeed Georg Solti as chief conductor of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 1952 to 1954, and was permitted by the East German authorities to do so without severing his ties with Dresden. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Sir Georg Solti, KBE ( 21 October 1912 The Bayerische Staatsoper ( Bavarian State Opera) is an Opera company based in Munich, Germany in existence since 1653 Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. [1] In 1953 Kempe appeared with the Munich company at the Royal Opera House in London, where the General Administrator, Sir David Webster, quickly decided that Kempe would be an ideal Musical Director for the Covent Garden company. WikipediaWikiProject Opera --> The Royal Opera House is an Opera house and major performing London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Sir David Webster (3 July 1903 - 9 May 1971 was the chief executive of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from 1945 to 1970 Kempe resisted the appointment, and did not accept the top job at any opera house after leaving Munich in 1954. He nonetheless conducted frequently at Covent Garden and was immensely popular there,[1] conducting among other works, Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, the Ring, Un Ballo in Maschera and Madama Butterfly, of which the critic Andrew Porter compared Kempe’s conducting favourably with that of Arturo Toscanini and Victor de Sabata. Salome is an Opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German Libretto by the composer based on Hedwig Lachmann ’s German See Mourning Becomes Electra for a reference to the 1967 opera based on the 1931 Eugene O'Neill play Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung) is a cycle of four epic Music dramas by the German composer Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Arturo Toscanini (ɑrˈturɔ ˌtɔskɑˈnini (March 25 1867 &ndash January Victor de Sabata ( April 10, 1892 - December 11, 1967) was an Italian conductor and Composer. [3] As a guest conductor, Kempe frequently revisited Munich conducting mostly the Italian repertory.
Kempe’s début at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus was in 1960. Bayreuthfestjpg|thumb|350px|right|Bayreuth Festspielhaus as seen in 1882 The Ring cycle he conducted there in that year was notable for multiple casting, with the role of Wotan split between Hermann Uhde and Jerome Hines, and Brünnhilde between Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson. Hermann Uhde ( July 20 1914 – October 10 1965 was a German Wagnerian Baritone. The American bass Jerome A Hines ( November 8, 1921 &ndash February 4, 2003) was a well-known Basso Opera Ibolyka Astrid Maria Varnay ( April 25 1918 - September 4 2006) was an operatic dramatic soprano of Hungarian heritage and Birgit Nilsson ( May 17, 1918 &ndash December 25, 2005) was a Swedish Dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic
Orchestral
In 1960, Kempe became Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic (RPO), chosen by the orchestra's founder, Sir Thomas Beecham. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ( RPO) is a British Orchestra based in London. Sir Thomas Beecham 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 1879 &ndash 8 March 1961 was a British conductor and Impresario. [4] From 1961 to 1962 he was Principal Conductor of the RPO, and from 1963 to 1975, their Artistic Director. Kempe had been associated with the orchestra since 1955. A member of the RPO later said of Kempe, “He was a wonderful controller of the orchestra, and a very great accompanist. . . Kempe was like someone driving a racing-car, following the piano round the bends. ”[5] Kempe abolished Beecham's 'male-only' rule, introducing women into the RPO: an orchestra without them, he said, ‘always reminds me of the army. ”[1] In 1970, the RPO named him Conductor for Life, but in 1975, he resigned his post with the orchestra. [6]
From 1965 to 1972 Kempe worked with Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, and from 1967 to his death conducted the Munich Philharmonic, with whom he made international tours and recorded the first quadraphonic set of the Beethoven symphonies. Tonhalle Orchester Zürich is a Symphony orchestra founded in 1868 in Zürich Switzerland, where it established its residence in the The Münchner Philharmoniker ( Munich Philharmonic) is one of three orchestras located in the city of Munich, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic) sound &ndash the most-widely-used early term for what is now called 4 Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist.
In the final months of his life, Kempe was the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts on 16 July 1976, in which he was to have conducted his BBC forces in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, became a memorial concert for him following Kempe's death in Zürich aged 65. The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily Orchestral The Missa solemnis in D Major Op 123 was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1819-1823 Zürich (, Zürich German: Züri, Zurich, Zurigo; in English generally Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the [7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Alan Blyth. "Rudolf Kempe interview and profile", The Gramophone, February 1974, pp. 1,547.
- ^ Sackville-West, Edward; Shawe-Taylor, Desmond (1955). The Record Guide. London: Collins, p. 746. OCLC 59019008. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- ^ Haltrecht, Montague (1975). The Quiet Showman. London: Collins, p. 186, 189. ISBN 0002111632.
- ^ R. E. (1976). "Rudolf Kempe: Obituary". The Musical Times vol. 117 (no. 1601): pp. 596.
- ^ Previn, André (ed) (1979). Orchestra. London: Macdonald and Jane's, p. 164. ISBN 0354044206.
- ^ Forbes, Elizabeth (August 1979). "Views of Kempe review of Rudolf Kempe: Pictures of a Life by Cordula Kempe-Oettinger". The Musical Times vol. 120 (no. 1638): pp. 653-654.
- ^ Cox, David (1980). The Henry Wood Proms. London: BBC, p. 242. ISBN 0563176970.
External links
| Preceded by Georg Solti |
General Music Director, Bavarian State Opera 1952-1954 |
Succeeded by Ferenc Fricsay |
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