Karl Panzner

Karl Panzner

Karl Panzner (born March 2, 1866 in Teplitz , † December 7, 1923 in Düsseldorf ) was a German conductor and city music director in Düsseldorf.

biography

Panzner was the son of a businessman who had lived in Dresden since 1869 . Panzner received private piano lessons in his youth. After attending grammar school, he graduated from the Dresden Conservatory with training as a conductor.

He then took over a position as Kapellmeister at the Elberfeld City Theater, which was newly built in 1888, around 1890 . Three years later he moved to Leipzig, where he was first conductor at the New Theater there and later also directed the Gewandhaus Orchestra at the Leipzig Opera . His performance of the opera Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner in 1899 was successful

In 1899 Panzner moved to Bremen , where he was in charge of the concerts of the Bremen Philharmonic , the Philharmonic Choir and, in 1904, the teachers' choir . From 1907 he was also conductor of the Berlin Mozart Orchestra . In 1902 he received the title of professor in Bremen. From 1904 he made guest tours with the teacher choir.

On October 1, 1908, he followed a call to Düsseldorf, where he led the first concerts with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra as the successor to Julius Buths, who left at short notice , and was appointed city music director for the 1909 season. Panzner spent a successful time here and was counted among the ten best conductors of his time by several music critics . Panzner attracted attention primarily as a lover of the works of Hector Berlioz and as a Mahler interpreter, especially with the premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony in December 1912 in Düsseldorf. This was called the Symphony of a Thousand due to the 125-strong orchestra, the participation of the Philharmonic Choirs from Düsseldorf and Elberfeld and the Düsseldorf Children's Choir and thus a total of over 1,000 active musicians . Before the beginning of the First World War , he was able to direct the Niederrheinische Musikfest twice , which, due to the war, could not be held again in Düsseldorf until 1926.

During his tenure there were several first performances in Düsseldorf, such as the orchestral cantata Power up the door by Julius Weismann , the violin concerto op. 28 by Karl Goldmark and the choral work Von deutscher Seele by Hans Pfitzner . Panzner was particularly attracted to world premieres of contemporary music , such as the one he performed together with Erich Kleiber as part of a complete series of concerts. Under his direction, the following works were premiered: the symphonic overture for large orchestra by Karl Horwitz, the symphonic fantasy for piano and orchestra by Alois Hába , the symphony No. 5 in G major by Ewald Sträßer, the sonata for piano and Violin by Paul Pisk , the songs for baritone by Wolfgang Bartesl, the opera Anneliese by Carl Ehrenberg , the symphony No. 2 by Georg Gräner , the string quartet by Wilhelm Knöchel, the sonatina for flute and piano by Philipp Jarnach , the songs for Bass by Alexander Jemnitz, the piano quintets, op.21 (bequeathed work) by Max Reger , the hymn Natur for four solos, mixed choir and large orchestra by Victor Merz, the choral and orchestral work Geister der Windstille by Rudolph Bergh and in particular the 2nd symphony op. 60 II. by Felix Woyrsch , which the latter had personally dedicated to him and which succeeded in a triumphant performance.

In addition, Panzner was able to engage the soloists Edwin Fischer (piano), Elly Ney (piano), Walter Gieseking (piano), Eugène Ysaÿe (violin), Bronisław Huberman (violin) and Eugen d'Albert (piano).

In his honor, a street in Düsseldorf- Urdenbach was renamed Karl-Panzner-Weg.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Herbert Black Forest : The Great Bremen Lexicon . 2nd, updated, revised and expanded edition. Edition Temmen, Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-86108-693-X .

Web links

• Musikverein Düsseldorf.de Chronicle