Around the Music Festival

Conductor Michael Gielen died on the 8th, at the age of 91. In 2014 he announced his retirement from Conducting Activity. He is Conducted orchestras throughout Europe and the United States, known for his skill to bring out brilliant sounds from orchestras with a clear approach, boasts a wide repertoire ranging from opera to contemporary music. He was born in 1927 in Dresden. His father is director Josef Gielen. In 1940, his family immigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, as the Nazis came to rise. He studied philosophy, piano, music theory, composition in Buenos Aires, and served as a Korrepetitor of Teatro Colon since 1947.

It was in 1950 that he returned to Europe. Until 1960, he served as a practicing conductor of the Vienna State Opera. Afterwards, he served as Music Director of the Royal Opera House of Stockholm (1960-1965), Principal Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra (1969-1973). In 1977 he was appointed General Music Director at the Frankfurt Opera. In 1979 he worked on the revival of Franz Schreker’s opera “Die Gezeichneten = The Branded”. That performance began as a trigger, and “Die Gezeichneten” then began to perform in various parts of Europe. After that, he served as Music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1980-1986) and Principal Conductor of the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (1986-1999).

Photo：SWR