Bruno Walter - Biography, Recordings, Written works, Discography, Further reading

Conductor, born in Berlin, Germany. A protégé of Mahler, he was in charge of the Munich Opera (1913–22) and from 1919 was chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. International tours won him a worldwide reputation before he fled the Nazis in 1938. Settling in the USA the next year, he guest-conducted widely over the next two decades, including many appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, and he also led the New York Philharmonic (1947–9). He was best known for his performances and recordings of the Viennese classics from Mozart and Beethoven to Brahms and Mahler.

Biography

Born near Alexanderplatz in Berlin to a Jewish family, Bruno Walter began his musical education at the Stern Conservatory at the age of eight, making his first public appearance as a pianist when he was nine.

In 1896 Walter took a conducting position at the opera house in Breslau—a job found for him by Mahler. This was where Walter dropped his surname "Schlesinger", at the request of either Mahler or the director, in order to make his name sound less Jewish .

In 1901 Walter accepted Mahler's invitation to be his assistant at the Court Opera in Vienna. A few months after Mahler's death in 1911, Walter led the first performance of Das Lied von der Erde in Munich, as well as Mahler's Ninth Symphony in Vienna the next year.

Although Walter became an Austrian citizen in 1911, he left Vienna to become the Royal Bavarian Music Director in Munich in 1913.

Walter ended his appointment in Munich in 1922, and left for New York, the United States in 1923, working with the New York Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall;

Back in Europe Walter was re-engaged for several appointments, including Berlin (1925, as musical director at the Städtische Opera, Charlottenburg) and Leipzig (1929). Austria would remain the main center of activity for the next several years, although he was also a frequent guest conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1934 to 1939, and made guest appearances such as in annual concerts with the New York Philharmonic from 1932 to 1936.

During his years in the United States, Walter worked with many famous American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (where he was musical adviser from 1947 to 1949), and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His late life was marked by stereo recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. His last recording was a series of Mozart overtures with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra at the end of March in 1961.

Recordings

Like Otto Klemperer, Walter worked with Mahler, and his performances of Mahler's works are considered outstanding, particularly his recording of the Ninth Symphony, the first performance of which he was privileged to give. The recording, the first of that symphony, was made at a live performance of the Vienna Philharmonic in January 1938—just two months before the Nazi Anschluss drove Walter into exile. One of Walter's most cherished recordings is that of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde made for English Decca in 1951 with Kathleen Ferrier, Julius Patzak, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

He performed the works of another Viennese composer, Anton Bruckner, and his recording of that composer's Ninth Symphony is also a landmark performance.

Walter was a distinguished conductor of music from the classical period, and his recorded performances of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven are well loved. 2 Symphonic Fantasia Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Songs Choral Works

Written works

Gustav Mahler's III. 1969

Discography

A complete Bruno Walter discography (including, for example, a dozen recordings of the Mozart Symphony No. 40) can be found at http://www.geocities.com/walteriana76/BWrecordsB.htm Some samples from Walter's discography include:

Bach: St. Matthew Passion Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9, with the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Columbia SO (multiple recordings made from the 1930s- 1960s) Beethoven: Fidelio Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Beethoven: Violin Concerto (two recordings with Joseph Szigeti, one with Zino Francescatti) Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, with the NBC Symphony Brahms: Academic Festival Overture, with the Columbia SO Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4, Schiksalslied, Tragic Overture, and Haydn Variations with the Columbia SO, Vienna Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic (two complete symphony cycles: New York Philharmonic, 1953 and Columbia Symphony Orchestra, 1959-61) Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 4, 7 and 9, with the Columbia SO Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9, with the Columbia SO Haydn: Symphony Nos. 86, 88, 92, 96, 100, and 102 (various orchestras, 1930s to 1950s) Mahler: Symphony No. 9, (live) with Vienna Philharmonic, Jan 1938 Mahler: Symphony No. 9, with Columbia SO, 1961 Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (live) with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, 1939 Mahler: Symphony Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 9 with the Columbia SO Mahler: Symphony Nos. 4, 5 with New York Philharmonic, 1945, 1947 Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 with the Vienna Philharmonic (1938) Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde, with the Vienna Philharmonic, Kerstin Thorborg, and Charles Kullman (1936) Mahler: "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" with Kerstin Thorborg and the Vienna Philharmonic (1936) Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde with the Vienna Philharmonic, Kathleen Ferrier, and Julius Patzak (1952) Mahler: Das Lied von de Erde with the New York Philharmonic, Mildred Miller, and Ernst Haefliger (1960) Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto with Nathan Milstein and the New York Philharmonic (1945) Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro, at the 1937 Salzburg Festival Mozart: Symphonies Nos 35, 36, and 38-41, with the Columbia SO Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 38 and 41 with the Vienna Philharmonic (1936 and 1938 respectively) Mozart: Symphony No. 39 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1934) Mozart: Symphony No. 40 (with the Vienna Philharmonic and Columbia Symphony orchestra, 1930s and 1950s) Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik (two recordings) Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 (pianist and conductor) The Birth of a Performance (Rehearsals and a complete performance of Mozart's Symphony No. 36) with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra Mozart: Don Giovanni, with the Metropolitan Opera Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, with the Salzburg Festival 1937 Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 (7) in b "Unfinished," 9 (8) in C, "Great C Major" - various recordings in Europe and US Schumann: Symphony No. with the New York Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic (1930s and 1950s) R. Strauss: Don Juan, Verdi: La Forza del Destino Wagner: Meistersinger Overture Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde Wagner: Die Walküre Act I and portions of Act II in Vienna Wagner: Siegfried Idyll - Vienna Philharmonic, 1930s, and Columbia Symphony, 1950s Wagner: "Im Treibhaus" (Walter on piano accompanying Flagstad)

Further reading

Raymond Holden, The Virtuoso Conductors: The Central European Tradition from Wagner to Karajan.

Preceded by: Felix Mottl	General Music Directors, Bavarian State Opera 1913–1922	Succeeded by: Hans Knappertsbusch
Preceded by: Wilhelm Furtwängler	Principal Conductors, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra 1929–1933	Succeeded by: Hermann Abendroth
Preceded by: Artur Rodziński	Musical Directors, New York Philharmonic 1947–1949	Succeeded by: Dmitri Mitropoulos