Albert Bittner

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Albert Bittner (born September 27, 1900 in Nuremberg , † August 7, 1980 in Hamburg ) was a German conductor and general music director .

Life

Bittner attended the Realgymnasium and the Nuremberg Conservatory and completed private music studies with August Scharrer and Richard Lert. He began his career as 2nd Kapellmeister at the Reussisches Theater Gera (1923–1929), which in the twenties was one of the "most advanced" theaters in the German Reich due to its schedule and attracted many prominent artists.

From 1929 to 1932 he was solo repetitor at the Berlin State Opera and assistant to Otto Klemperer and repetiteur at the Berlin Kroll Opera . In the 1932/33 season he was then first conductor at the city ​​theater , where he also joined the NSDAP ( membership number 1.517.656). From 1933 he took over the Oldenburg State Orchestra as regional music director . In 1936, Bittner became municipal music director and musical director of the opera house in Essen and headed the Essen Philharmonic. In the hall building in Essen he brought u. a. the premiere of Ernst Pepping's 2nd symphony (February 7, 1943). On June 19, 1940, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for the first time . There is a photo portrait of Albert Bittner by the photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch in his estate archive, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich - he can also be seen in a group photo taken by the Essen Musikverein in 1936 with his wife.

From 1943 until shortly after the end of the war he was interim "Musical Headmaster" of the Hamburg State Opera . He also conducted the first symphony concerts of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra after the Second World War.

1945–1955 he was general music director at the Braunschweig State Theater . 1955–1965 he worked as Kapellmeister (“1st conductor”) at the Hamburg State Opera . There he supervised numerous works over several seasons and also conducted La Traviata in the Felsenstein production. He also brought out a number of important premieres, including a. Irish legend by Werner Egk , The School of Women by Liebermann / Strobel , Dimitrij von Dvořák / Marie Červinková-Riegrová and The Homecoming (staged first performance 1955) by Marcel Mihalovici for the first and world premiere.

Even after his departure, Bittner conducted a number of opera performances in the State Opera as a guest. On the occasion of his 70th birthday in September 1970 he conducted a performance of the Mozart opera Die Zauberflöte ; this was also his last appearance on the podium of the orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera.

He also conducted the German premiere of the opera Die Liebe zu den Drei Orangen (1950) and the premiere of the opera Die Feuerprobe by Kurt Stiebitz (1953, Staatstheater Braunschweig). As a guest conductor he led a. a the SWF Baden-Baden and the Beromünster / Zurich radio symphony orchestra .

After leaving the Hamburg State Opera, he taught at the Hamburg University of Music , where he held a conducting class. His students include Wilhelm Kaiser-Lindemann and Manfred Trojahn .

literature

  • Herbert A. Frenzel , Hans Joachim Moser (ed.): Kürschner's biographical theater manual. Drama, opera, film, radio. Germany, Austria, Switzerland. De Gruyter, Berlin 1956, DNB 010075518 , p. 56.
  • Peter Muck : One Hundred Years of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra . 3rd volume. Hans Schneider, Tutzing 1982.
  • Stefan Jaeger: The conductor's book of Atlantis . Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, Zurich 1985.
  • Fred K. Prieberg : Handbook of German Musicians 1933-1945 . Kiel 2004, CD-ROM lexicon, p. 467 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e ARTIST'S NEWS: Albert Bittner . Editorial obituary. In: Orpheus . Edition 11/12. November / December 1980. page 873.
  2. ^ Fred K. Prieberg : Handbook of German Musicians 1933–1945 . Kiel 2004, CD-ROM lexicon, p. 467 f.
personal data
SURNAME Bittner, Albert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1980
Place of death Hamburg