Karl Pohlig

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Karl Pohlig (born February 10, 1858 in Teplitz , Bohemia , † June 17, 1928 in Braunschweig ) was a German-speaking pianist and composer from northern Bohemia.

Life

Pohlig studied cello and piano in Weimar and was a pupil of Franz Liszt , whom he followed to Budapest and Rome. As a court pianist, Pohlig briefly taught at the Princely Conservatory in Sondershausen . From 1885 to 188 he was a teacher at the Riga Music School, where he often gave concerts. From 1897 he conducted various theater orchestras in London ( Covent Garden 1897 and 1898), Hamburg, Coburg (at the Hoftheater ), Vienna (Vice Kapellmeister alongside Gustav Mahler at the Hofoper ) and Graz (as Kapellmeister). From 1900 to 1907 he was court conductor in Stuttgart . In 1901 he conducted Bruckner's 6th Symphony there in its unabridged first version, after Gustav Mahler had performed the work in 1899, initially greatly abridged. In 1902 Pohlig's symphonic poem Per Aspera, ad Astra was written in Stuttgart .

Pohlig was the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1907 to 1912 . In 1909 he invited Sergei Rachmaninov to make a debut in the United States. After Pohlig fell out of favor with the audience in 1912 for revealing his extramarital relationship with his Swedish secretary, he resigned from conducting the orchestra in Philadelphia . Since his contract in America would normally have lasted another year, he went to court to obtain the payment of a corresponding severance payment. From 1913 Pohlig worked at the Hamburg City Theater and ended his career from 1914 to 1922 as General Music Director of the State Theater in Braunschweig .

Pohlig put his artistic focus on the interpretation of Richard Wagner's works . As a composer, Pohlig left two symphonies, two symphonic poems and some works from the genres of chamber and piano music.

He was the brother of the geologist Hans Pohlig .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Helmut Scheunchen : Lexicon of German Baltic Music. Harro von Hirschheydt publishing house, Wedemark-Elze 2002. ISBN 3-7777-0730-9 . P. 197
  2. ↑ Lebrecht, Norman, The Maestro Myth . 1992, p. 140.
  3. ^ Smith, William Ander, The Mystery of Leopold Stokowski . Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990, p. 33.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Pohlig, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Teplice
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1928
Place of death Braunschweig