Joseph Keilberth

Joseph Keilberth 1945

Joseph Keilberth (born April 19, 1908 in Karlsruhe , † July 20, 1968 in Munich ) was a German concert and opera conductor .

origin

Joseph Keilberth's family came from the Upper Palatinate . The grandfather was a military music master (conductor) in Munich, the father solo cellist at the Badische Hofkapelle Karlsruhe .

Artistic stations

Karlsruhe and Prague

Joseph Keilberth began his career in 1925 at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, initially as a répétiteur for the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe , before he was appointed Kapellmeister . In 1935 he applied for the post of general music director in his hometown and prevailed over his competitor Herbert von Karajan . Whether it before the " seizure " of the Nazis or whether he was the nationalist -minded Militant League for German Culture , belonged and later the successor organization, the National Socialist cultural community, like Fred K. Prieberg claims is doubtful because a notice of intervention with the signature date not available. When evaluating documents, it should also be taken into account that Keilberth had the same first name as his father, lived at the same address at the time in question and was also employed at the same theater. What is certain, however, is that Keilberth was still a member of the “Schlaraffia Carolsuhu” as “Ritter Kla-Mottl the tender-hearted” until the Karlsruhe Schlaraffengesellschaft was banned. In January 1939 he performed a work by Igor Stravinsky with the Karlsruhe Orchestra , which the National Socialists described as a cultural Bolshevik and rejected.

In 1940, on the recommendation of Wilhelm Furtwängler , Keilberth took over as general music director of the German Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague , which had already existed there during the Imperial and Royal Monarchy and now continued to exist in the so-called Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . A concert by Keilberth in connection with Adolf Hitler's birthday is not known. He conducted the Prague orchestra in around 400 performances, and music by composers who had only been sponsored by the National Socialists found their way into around 20 programs. Since Keilberth succeeded in achieving a classification as "uk" ("indispensable") for the Prague orchestra, which prevented musicians from being called up, the orchestra continued to exist until the last days of World War II and was able to do so on May 1, 1945 give a Beethoven evening in Prague. According to Prieberg, Keilberth was regional director of the Reich Music Chamber in the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from 1942 to 1945 . In the final phase of the Second World War , in August 1944, he was included in the list of the most important conductors approved by Adolf Hitler , which saved him from being deployed in the war, including on the home front .

Berlin and Dresden

After imprisonment and forced labor, Joseph Keilberth and his family were deported to Saxony and reached Dresden on June 10, 1945. He was immediately appointed head director of the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden and opened the concert season on July 16, 1945. Keilberth held the position until 1949, but stayed in Dresden until 1950. He also worked from 1948 to 1951 as the chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin , which was playing in the Admiralspalast at that time , as the Lindenoper was destroyed and did not reopen until September 4, 1955.

Bamberg, Hamburg and Munich

From 1950 until his death in 1968, Joseph Keilberth was chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra , which emerged from his Prague orchestra in Bamberg after the Second World War . From 1951 to 1959 he was Hamburg General Music Director and conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra . In 1959 he moved to the post of Bavarian General Music Director at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich . Keilberth died in 1968 on the conductor's podium during a festival performance of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in the National Theater in Munich . To this day he was the only conductor in Bavaria who presided over two of the country's leading orchestras at the same time.

Guest Conductor

From 1952 to 1956 Joseph Keilberth conducted a total of 56 performances at the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth . In 1955 he recorded the entire Ring des Nibelungen there for the first time as a live recording in stereo on behalf of the Decca company . For legal reasons (in the meantime the company EMI had acquired the exclusive rights for recordings from Bayreuth) these recordings could not be published. The recordings disappeared in the archive and were only published for the first time in 2006. In addition, he appeared from 1957 at the Salzburg Festival as well as at the International Music Festival in Lucerne (now the Lucerne Festival ) and the Vienna Festival . He worked as a permanent guest from 1936 with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Munich Philharmonic , from 1943 with the Vienna Symphony , from 1944 with the Vienna Philharmonic , from 1951 with the Musikkollegium Winterthur and from 1965 with the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo . In addition, there were numerous productions and concerts with Bayerischer Rundfunk , Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne and Süddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart .

Joseph Keilberth's grave

meaning

Joseph Keilberth was best known for his interpretations of Mozart , Beethoven and Wagner as well as for performances of works by Anton Bruckner , Johannes Brahms , Bedřich Smetana , Antonín Dvořák , Max Reger , Richard Strauss , Hans Pfitzner and Paul Hindemith . He was extremely successful on numerous guest tours. With the most famous orchestras as well as vocal and instrumental soloists, he has produced a considerable number of records that document an important era in German musical culture.

The Joseph Keilberth Hall of the Bamberg Concert Hall has been the new home of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra - Bavarian State Philharmonic Orchestra since 1993 . A hall in the residential monastery in Karlsruhe- Rueppurr is also named after him, as is a primary school in the north of Munich. Streets in Dresden , Grünwald and Munich also bear the name of the conductor.

Joseph Keilberth was buried in the Grünwald forest cemetery.

Discography

(Selection, alphabetically by composer)

• Beethoven : Symphony No. 1 (Bamberg Symphony / July 3–5, 1958 / Telefunken SLT 43007)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 (Bamberg Symphony / July 1–3, 1958 / Telefunken SLT 43049 & NHKO / 1968 live in Tokyo )
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / September 27 to October 3, 1956 / Telefunken SLT 43001 & Bamberg Symphony / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / September 30 to October 3, 1959 / Telefunken SLT 43052 & Bamberg Symphony / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / January 6–7 , 1953 / Telefunken LSK 7021 & Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / January 28 to February 5, 1958 / Telefunken SLT 43002)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (Bamberg Symphony / July 8-10 , 1960 / Telefunken SLT 43050)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 ( Berlin Philharmonic / October 27-29, 1959 / Telefunken SLT 43040 & Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / May 5, 1967 / Orfeo)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / October 6, 1958 / Telefunken SLT 43007 & Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / May 5, 1967 live in the Herkulessaal Munich / Orfeo & NHKO / May 1, 1967 live in Tokyo)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ( NHK Symphony Orchestra / Ito / Kurimoto / Mori / Ohashi / 1965 live in Tokyo)
• Brahms : Symphony No. 1 (Berliner Philharmoniker / March 8, 1951 / Telefunken LSK 7008 & NHK Symphony Orchestra / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Brahms: Symphony No. 2 (Berlin Philharmonic / February 6, 1962 / Telefunken SLT 43065 & Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / December 8, 1966 live in the Herkulessaal, Munich)
• Brahms: Symphony No. 3 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / February 6, 1951 / Telefunken LSK 7020 & Bamberg Symphony / July 8–9, 1963 / Telefunken NT 846)
• Brahms: Symphony No. 4 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / April 21-25 , 1960 / Telefunken SLT 43042 & Bamberg Symphony / May 20, 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Bruckner : Symphony No. 4 (NHK Symphony Orchestra / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 (Berlin Philharmonic / March 10-14, 1963 / Telefunken )
• Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 (NHK Symphony Orchestra / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / October 31 to November 3, 1956 Telefunken )
• Furtwängler : Symphony No. 3 (Berliner Philharmoniker / 1956)
• Handel : Concerto grosso in B flat major op. 3–2 (NHK Symphony Orchestra / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Haydn : Symphonies No. 85 "La rein" & No. 101 "The clock" (Bamberg Symphony / July 8-11 , 1957 / Telefunken SLT 43015)
• Hindemith : Cardillac (complete recording / Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester / Kölner Rundfunkchor / Fischer-Dieskau / Kirschstein / Grobe / Kohn / Söderström / June 14-19 , 1968 / Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft 2707042)
• Mahler : The Song of the Earth (Bamberg Symphony / Fischer-Dieskau / Wunderlich / 1964)
• Marschner : Hans Heiling (complete recording / WDR-Sinfonieorchester / Franzen / Plumacher / Prey / Synek / Kirschstein / Hering / Meister / 1966 live in Cologne)
• Mozart : The Magic Flute (complete recording / WDR Sinfonieorchester / Greindl / Schock / Hotter / Lipp / Sert / Kunz / 1954)
• Mozart: The Magic Flute ( Vienna Philharmonic / Vienna State Opera Choir / Wunderlich / Frick / Wächter / Köth / Berry / 1960 Salzburg Festival)
• Mozart: Serenade in G major KV 525 "A Little Night Music" ( Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / July 21, 1959 / Telefunken SLT 43068)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 17, G major, KV 129 (Bamberg Symphony / 1968)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 28, KV 200 (Bamberg Symphony / July 23-25, 1962 / Telefunken SLT 43068)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 35 "Haffner", KV 385 (Bamberg Symphony / July 10, 1963 / Telefunken SLT 43084)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 36 "Linzer", KV 425 (Bamberg Symphony / July 11, 1963 / Telefunken SLT 43084)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 38 "Prager", KV 504 (Bamberg Symphony / November 2, 1955 / Telefunken SLT 43012)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 39, KV 543 (Bamberg Symphony / November 2, 1955 / Telefunken SLT 43012)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV 550 (Bamberg Symphony / July 18-19 , 1959 / Telefunken SLT 43038 & Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / December 8, 1966)
• Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major "Jupiter", KV 551 (Bamberg Symphony / July 19-20 , 1959 / Telefunken SLT 43038 & NHK Symphony Orchestra / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• Pfitzner : Von deutscher Seele (Complete recording / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir / Giebel / Töpper / Wunderlich / Wiener / December 9, 1965 / Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft 139 157-58)
• Reger : Variations and Fugue on a Theme by JA Hiller, op.100 (Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg / March 29 - 31, 1955 / Telefunken SLT 43064)
• Reger: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 132 (Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / July 23-25, 1962 / Telefunken SLT 43067)
• Reger: Ballet Suite for Orchestra, op. 130 (Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / July 24-25 , 1962 Telefunken SLT 43067)
• Rossini : The Barber of Seville (complete recording / choir and orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera / Wunderlich / Prey / Hotter / Köth / Proebstl / 1959)
• Schubert : Symphony No. 8 [No. 7] B minor "Unfinished", (Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / July 7, 1960 / Telefunken STW 30232)
• Schumann : Concerto for piano and orchestra (Anni Fischer / WDR Sinfonieorchester / April 28, 1958)
• Smetana : Die Moldau (Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / July 20–1 , 1961 / Telefunken STW 30237)
• Smetana: From Bohemia's grove and corridor (Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / July 20-21 , 1961 / Telefunken STW 30237)
• R.Strauss : Till Eulenspiegel's funny pranks (Bamberg Symphony / 1968 live in Tokyo)
• R.Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (complete recording / Orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera / Watson / Böhme / Töpper / Wiener / Köth / Waas / Stolze / 1965 live in Munich)
• R.Strauss: Salome (complete recording / Orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera / Barth / Borkh / Fehenberger / Hotter / Lorenz / 1951 live in Munich)
• R.Strauss: The woman without a shadow (complete recording (abbreviated) / Bavarian State Orchestra / Jess Thomas / Bjoner / Fischer-Dieskau / Borkh / Mödl / Hotter / Hallstein / Paskuda / Töpper / Fassbaender / November 21, 1963 live at the National Theater in Munich)
• Wagner : Tristan and Isolde (complete recording / choir and orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera / Bjoner / Uhl / Töpper / Wiener / Frick / 1965)
• Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (complete recording / Wiener / Hotter / Thaw / Hoppe / Kusche / Metternich / choir and orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera / 1963)
• Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Live from Bayreuth / 1955) / first complete stereo recording by Decca! / Was 50 years unpublished in the archive / first published by TESTAMENT 2006
• Weber : Der Freischütz (complete recording / Berliner Philharmoniker / Grümmer / Otto / Schock / Kohn / Prey / Wiemann / Frick / April 23 to September 14, 1958 / EMI HMV ASD 319–321)

Opening or reopening of cultural sites

• 1935 Theater Gernsbach · Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe
• 1941 Rudolfinum Prague · German Philharmonic Orchestra Prague
• 1946 Tonhalle Dresden (later Small House) · Saxon State Orchestra Dresden
• 1948 Large House Dresden ( Dresden Theater ) · Saxon State Orchestra Dresden
• 1961 Theater hall of the Rudolf Steiner School in Munich (Theater on Leopoldstrasse) · Bavarian State Orchestra
• 1963 National Theater Munich · Bavarian State Orchestra
• 1967 Würzburg Cathedral · Bamberg Symphony Orchestra

Awards

• 1945 title of professor by the Saxon government
• 1949 National Prize 1st class of the GDR
• 1956 Commander's Cross of the Greek Order of the Phoenix
• 1961 Bavarian Order of Merit
• 1964 Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st class
• 1967 Culture Prize of the City of Winterthur
• 1967 Honorary Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo (as the second conductor in the orchestra's history)

literature

• Thomas Keilberth: Joseph Keilberth. A conductor's life in the XX. Century. Edited by Hermann Dechant . Phonography by Edeltraut Schneider. Apollon-Musikoffizin Austria, Vienna 2007, with 64 illustrations, ISBN 3-9501190-6-X .
• Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinski : Joseph Keilberth. Rembrandt-Verlag, Berlin 1968, with 30 illustrations.
• Wilhelm Zentner:  Keilberth, Joseph. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1977, ISBN 3-428-00192-3 , p. 408 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Joseph Keilberth  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Works by and about Joseph Keilberth in the catalog of the German National Library

• Joseph Keilberth in the Bavarian Musicians' Lexicon Online (BMLO)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fred K. Prieberg : Handbook of German Musicians 1933-1945 , CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, p. 3.603.
2. ↑ Thomas Keilberth: Joseph Keilberth. A conductor's life in the XX. Century. Edited by Hermann Dechant. Phonography by Edeltraut Schneider. Apollon-Musikoffizin Austria, Vienna 2007, p. 21 and p. 55.
3. ↑ Fred K. Prieberg: Handbook of German Musicians 1933-1945 , CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, p. 3.603.
4. ↑ Oliver Rathkolb : Loyal to the Führer and God-Grace. Artist elite in the Third Reich , Österreichischer Bundesverlag Vienna 1991
5. ^ Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 299.
6. ↑ A detailed list of the works conducted by Joseph Keilberth can be found in Thomas Keilberth: Joseph Keilberth. A conductor's life in the XX. Century. Edited by Hermann Dechant. Phonography by Edeltraut Schneider. Apollon-Musikoffizin Austria, Vienna 2007, pp. 719–734.