Michael Gielen

Michael Andreas Gielen (born 20 July 1927) is an Austrian conductor and composer.

Early years

Gielen was born in Dresden, Germany, to Rose (née Steuermann) and Josef Gielen; his father, an opera director. Through his mother, Rose, he is the nephew of Eduard Steuermann and Salka Viertel. His father was Christian and his mother was Jewish.[1][2]

Career

He began his career as a pianist in Buenos Aires, where he studied with Erwin Leuchter and gave an early performance of Arnold Schoenberg's complete piano works in 1949 (the South-American première). While serving as conductor and répétiteur at the Wiener Staatsoper (1950–60), he conducted productions of contemporary music outside the opera house. His next operatic appointment was as conductor of Royal Swedish Opera from 1960-65, followed by posts at the Netherlands Opera and the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt from 1977. He was principal conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra (1969–73), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1980–86) and of the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (1986–99), which he has been closely associated with since.

He has demonstrated a mastery of the most complex contemporary scores, and he has given many premières, including Helmut Lachenmann's Fassade and Klangschatten – mein Saitenspiel, György Ligeti's Requièm, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Carré and Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten. In 1973 he recorded Schoenberg's opera Moses und Aron, used as a soundtrack for the film Moses und Aron.

In 1979 he revived Schreker's opera Die Gezeichneten at the Oper Frankfurt, where it had been premiered in 1918.[3] During his time in Frankfurt, later called the Gielen Era, he collaborated with stage directors such as Hans Neuenfels for Verdi's Aida and Ruth Berghaus for Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.[4]

As a composer, Gielen has elaborated on the tradition of the Second Viennese School and his small oeuvre includes settings of poems by Hans Arp, Paul Claudel, Stefan George, and Pablo Neruda. In October 2014, Gielen announced his retirement from conducting for health reasons, particularly seriously deteriorated eyesight..[5]

Awards

Selected works

References

  1. ↑ Profile, musicincincinnati.com; accessed 13 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Profile, dw.de; accessed 13 August 2015.(German)
  3. ↑ Peters, Rainer (2010). "The Ernst von Siemens Music Prize-Winner Michael Gielen". Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  4. ↑ Rockwell, John (28 April 1987). "Opera: Wagner's 'Ring des Nibelungen' in Nigeria". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  5. ↑ "Michael Gielen beendet Dirigenten-Karriere". WDR (Kulturnachrichten). 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2015-08-26.

Sources

Literature

External links

Cultural offices
Preceded by
André Cluytens		 Music Director, Belgian National Orchestra
1969–1971 		Succeeded by
André Vandernoot
Preceded by
Kazimierz Kord		 Chief Conductor, Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra
1986–1999 		Succeeded by
Sylvain Cambreling
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