Fritz Mahler

Fritz Mahler (1925)

Fritz Mahler (born July 16, 1901 in Vienna , † June 18, 1973 in Winston-Salem , North Carolina , USA) was an Austrian and later American conductor. He had to emigrate to the USA in order to avoid persecution by the National Socialists as a Jew .

Life

Fritz Mahler was born as the son of Ludwig Mahler , professor of oriental languages, and his wife Agnes, b. Schuschny, born. His musical talent may be due to his relationship with Gustav Mahler . His father was the cousin of the famous composer.

Mahler studied musicology at the University of Vienna from 1920 to 1924 . He learned conducting with Leopold Reichwein , and composition with Arnold Schönberg , Anton von Webern and Alban Berg . When Mahler completed his studies in 1924, he had already performed as a conductor in many places, for example in Bad Hall , at the Vienna Opera , at the Mannheim National Theater and at the Volksoper in Vienna .

Soon afterwards he was head of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra . In 1930 he went to Copenhagen to lead the Danish State Symphony Orchestra. He stayed there until 1935. That year Mahler accepted an invitation from the Columbia Broadcasting Company and conducted a series of concerts in New York. Mahler came from a Jewish family and emigrated to the USA to save himself from persecution by the National Socialists. In 1939 he became an American citizen. In the same year he married Pauline Koner , a renowned dancer and choreographer.

From 1939 to 1950 he was a member of the Juilliard Summer School of Music in New York as director of opera. From 1947 to 1950 Mahler conducted the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra in Erie, Pennsylvania . Under his leadership, the orchestra achieved national importance for the first time. From 1953 to 1964 Mahler directed the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Hartford, Connecticut . A number of recordings were made with this orchestra. After his engagement in Hartford was not renewed, Mahler decided to take on various assignments in Europe, Asia and South Africa.

Fritz Mahler died of a heart attack in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in June 1973.

literature

• Thea Constantine, New York Public Library for Performing Arts Music Division: Fritz Mahler Papers , New York 2004.
• Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century . Volume 2: J-R. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 880 f.
• Stefan Jaeger (ed.): The conductors' book of Atlantis. An encyclopedia. Atlantis, Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-254-00106-0 .
• Gene Biringer, Jonas Westover:  Mahler, Fritz. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
• Alfred Sendrey: Bibliography of Jewish music . Columbia University Press, New York, NY 1951.
• Nicolas Slonimsky: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians . 7th ed. New York 1984.
• Albert, E. Wier: The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians . New York 1938.

Web links

Commons : Fritz Mahler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Fritz Mahler papers , estate of the New York Public Library