Ferdinand Leitner - The great classical universal conductor
The Wunderkind gave his first piano recital at the age of eleven in the Bechstein Hall of his native Berlin. At the age of 14, Ferdinand Leitner began studying singing, composition (with Franz Schreker, among others) and conducting at the famous Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, in addition to his regular schooling. With 16 already "finished" pianist, he learns from masters like Bruno Walter, Fritz Busch, Hans Richter or Karl Muck (with this 1929 Korepetitor in Bayreuth) the craft of the "singer-conductor", as all later companions praised him. In 1931, the nineteen-year-old became Kapellmeister and house composer at the Berlin Staatliches Schauspielhaus.
After the end of the war in 1945, Eugen Jochum brought him to the Hamburg State Opera as Kapellmeister, and in 1946 he was promoted to opera director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Only another year later, the extremely fruitful period began in Stuttgart, where he was appointed opera director and conductor of the symphony concerts, and in 1950 general music director. Awards such as the Federal Cross of Merit (1959), the Dutch Order "Commandeur in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau" or the Hans-Georg-Nägeli Medal in Switzerland are proof of the growing reputation.
Countless guest appearances at home and abroad - from 1956, for example, he succeeded Erich Kleibers as director of the German Season at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, from 1969 to 1984 musical director of the Zurich Opera House - as well as around 300 recordings underscored his excellent reputation as an almost limitless conductor. In 1947 he co-founded the Ansbach Bach Weeks, worked tirelessly for the works of Carl Orff, and gave numerous world premieres and first performances of contemporary composers. His Wagner competence and close collaboration with composer grandson Wieland Wagner earned Stuttgart the honorary title "Winter-Bayreuth" in his time. His son Michael C. Leitner also testifies to his commitment to less well-known German Romantics such as Heinrich Marschner, Otto Nicolai and of course Peter Cornelius.
And yet Leitner's lifelong relationship with Mozart remained at the core of his artistic self-image: "Mozart is the only composer I have loved since I was nine years old, and this love has remained. Every melody must be singable. Dynamics is always a question of taste and instrument. Moderation is always the right thing to do, but the instruments should not be restricted."
Works:
•
Beethoven: Romance No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra in G major, Op. 40
•
Beethoven: Romance No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra in F major, Op. 50
•
Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn for orchestra, Op. 56a 'St Anthony Variations'
•
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
•
Cornelius: Der Barbier von Baghdad
•
Handel: Tamerlano
•
Haydn: Symphony No. 6 in D major ‘Le Matin'
•
Haydn: Symphony No. 7 in C major 'Le Midi'
•
Haydn: Symphony No. 8 in G major 'Le Soir'
•
Mozart: Der Schauspieldirektor, K486
•
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488
•
Mozart: Symphony No. 28 in C major, K200
•
Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D major, K385 'Haffner'
•
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K219 'Turkish'
•
Wagner: Parsifal
•
Wolf-Ferrari: I gioielli della Madonna