German conductor and composer (1923?2017)
Siegfried Kohler
(30 July 1923 ? 12 September 2017)
[1]
[2]
was a German conductor and composer of classical music. He worked as general music director of opera houses such as
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
and the
Royal Swedish Opera
. Kohler conducted premieres of works by
Hans Werner Henze
and
Volker David Kirchner
, among others, and revived rarely performed operas. He also composed music for the stage and taught at universities of music in Cologne and
Saarbrucken
.
Career
[
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]
Born in
Freiburg im Breisgau
the son of a horn player,
[3]
Kohler studied harp at the
Musikhochschule Freiburg
.
[4]
[5]
From 1942, he worked at the
Theater Heilbronn
as a harpist and
repetiteur
.
[6]
During World War II he was a
Funker
(radio operator).
[6]
He conducted from 1946 in Freiburg, promoted in 1952 to
1. Kapellmeister
(first conductor).
[6]
From 1954, he worked at the
opera in Dusseldorf
. From 1957, he conducted at the
Cologne Opera
, and later became its
Generalmusikdirektor
(GMD).
[4]
He conducted there in 1958 the first staged performance of
Hans Werner Henze
's ballet
Das Vokaltuch der Kammersangerin Rosa Silber
,
[7]
with choreography by
Lisa Kretschmar
[
de
]
.
[8]
He was also director of the
Opernstudio
of the
Hochschule fur Musik Koln
. Kohler was GMD in
Saarbrucken
from 1964 to 1974,
[9]
and simultaneously was professor of conducting at the
Hochschule fur Musik Saar
.
[4]
[10]
The soprano
Inge Borkh
recalled that Kohler was called to the
Staatsoper Stuttgart
to step in to prepare Richard Strauss'
Die Frau ohne Schatten
in 1970 because he had an understanding of the singers' breathing techniques.
[11]
From 1974 to 1988, Kohler was GMD at the
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
.
[12]
He presented an unusual repertoire, including Auber's
Die Stumme von Portici
[13]
and Wagner's
Rienzi
(with
Jon Buzea
in the title role,
Eike Wilm Schulte
as Steffano Colonna and
Gail Gilmore
as Adriano). Kohler conducted a performance during the
Internationale
of 1979 which was recorded live, with
Gerd Brenneis
as Rienzi,
Jeannine Altmeyer
as Irene and
Glenys Linos
[
de
]
as Adriano.
[14]
He revived operas by
Siegfried Wagner
, holding days devoted to the composer twice, with
concert performances
of
Sternengebot
in 1977, and of
Sonnenflammen
in 1979.
[3]
Kohler conducted premieres of operas by
Volker David Kirchner
,
[10]
Die Trauung
(
The Wedding
) in 1975 and
Das kalte Herz
(
The Cold Heart
) in 1981. He appeared as a guest conductor internationally with notable orchestras.
From 1989, Kohler was chief conductor at the
Royal Swedish Opera
in
Stockholm
. He had conducted the
Kungliga Hovkapellet
first in 1975, and had the position of
Hovkapellmastare
from 1992 to 2005.
[15]
[16]
In Stockholm, he conducted Mozart's
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail
,
Le nozze di Figaro
and
Don Giovanni
, Offenbach's
Les Contes d'Hoffman
, Franz von Suppe's
Boccaccio
, Verdi's
Simon Boccanegra
, Wagner's
Der fliegende Hollander
,
Lohengrin
,
Der Ring des Nibelungen
and
Parsifal
, Puccini's
Madama Butterfly
,
Elektra
and
Arabella
by Richard Strauss. He conducted concerts such as Orff's
Carmina Burana
and the Swedish first performance of Mozart's
Il Re Pastore
. A ballet performance used as music Rimskij-Korsakov's
Scheherazade
, Bizet's
Symphony in C
, Arvo Part's
Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
and
Four Last Songs
by Richard Strauss.
[15]
Kohler's work is documented in recordings for radio and television, as well as in commercial releases. He conducted excerpts from his own works for WERGO, with the
Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
and the
Konigliche Hofkapelle Stockholm
.
[17]
He recorded in 1993
Der tapfere Soldat
by Oscar Straus with the
WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln
and principal singers
Johannes Martin Kranzle
as Bumeru,
Caroline Stein
as Nadina Popff, and
John Dickie
as Alexius Spiridoff.
[18]
Kohler wrote his autobiography in 2003, with the same title as his operetta,
Alles Capriolen
.
[5]
and the subtitle
Ein Jahrhundert im Musiktheater
(A century of music for the stage).
[15]
He died in Wiesbaden on 12 September 2017.
[1]
[2]
Awards
[
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]
In 1978, Kohler was awarded the
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
.
[10]
He was an honorary member of the
Richard-Wagner-Verband
of
Saarland
,
[4]
and an honorary member of the
Verband
in Wiesbaden
[4]
and of the
Hessisches Staatstheater
.
[19]
He received the title
Hovkapellmastare
from the King of Sweden.
[4]
In 2009, he received a
Kulturpreis
from Wiesbaden.
[20]
On the occasion of his 90th birthday, the orchestra in Wiesbaden arranged a concert for him.
[2]
Selected works
[
edit
]
Stage
- Alles Capriolen
[
de
]
(operetta)
[10]
- Sabine, sei sittsam
(musical)
[10]
- Old Germany
(musical)
[17]
- WirbelWind und WonneWolken
(revue-opera)
[17]
- Ladies and Gentlemen
(musical criminal comedy)
[10]
Instrumental
- Humoreske
for harp
[17]
- Tango, Vision fur großes Orchester
[17]
- Leidenschaft, Tanzszene fur großes Orchester
[17]
Vocal
- Sechs ernste Lieder
for soprano and piano
[17]
References
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]
External links
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]
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