Christoph von Dohnányi, the German conductor and longtime music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, handed away final Saturday, September 6, two days shy of his 96th birthday.
Dohnányi was born in Berlin right into a excessive profile household. His grandfather was Ernst von Dohnányi, a Hungarian composer and pianist. His uncle was the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In 1945, when Dohnányi was 15 years outdated, his father and uncle had been despatched to a focus camp and executed on account of their actions within the German resistance motion towards the Nazis.
In his youth, Dohnányi rose by way of the ranks of regional German opera homes. In Frankfurt he served as assistant to Sir George Solti.
From 1984 to 2002, Dohnányi served because the sixth music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. He made quite a few extremely regarded recordings with the orchestra, and furthered its fame as one of many world’s most refined ensembles. After leaving Cleveland, he was principal conductor of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.
Dohnányi’s conducting fashion emphasised substance over flashiness. In rehearsal, he gave an in depth exploration of the rating. Readability, stability, and the complete arc of the piece had been paramount.
In an interview he claimed that “the principle purpose of a conductor ought to be that he’s not essential any extra — that the orchestra listens to one another, that the orchestra has a sure spirit which you attempt to convey to them whilst you’re rehearsing.”
Schumann: Full Symphonies (Cleveland Orchestra)
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C minor (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester)
Stay recording from the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, 28 September 2018:
