Rolf Agop

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Rolf Agop with the harpist of the Siegerland Orchestra

Rolf Agop (born June 11, 1908 in Munich , † October 15, 1998 in Hilchenbach ) was a German conductor and university professor .

Life

After studying music at the Munich Academy with Hugo Röhr and Siegmund von Hausegger , Agop's artistic career began as a conductor at the Bayerische Landesbühne, a touring theater. This was followed by 3 years as Kapellmeister and choir director at the Kärntner Grenzland-Theater in Klagenfurt. In 1941 Agop moved to the Lower Silesian State Theater in Jauer as musical director before he was drafted into military service. After the end of the war, from 1945 to 1948, Rolf Agops began again as Kapellmeister at the Nuremberg Opera . As a deputy of the local, because of its Nazi proximity for a few years, GMD Alfons Dressel was suspendedhe had the opportunity to conduct large public concerts, such as the romantic cantata Von deutscher Seele by Hans Pfitzner , Agop's former teacher and later friend.

In 1948 there were first contacts with the Northwest German Philharmonic in Bad Pyrmont, an ensemble about to be dissolved. From 1949 Agop also supervised the conducting class of the Northwest German Music Academy in Detmold , initially as a lecturer , and at the beginning of the 1950s as a professor . Many of his students later also had much-noticed careers, such as Wolfgang Trommer and Peter Rocholl . From 1950 to 1952, Agop was the first chief conductor of the newly formed Northwest German Philharmonic , initially based in Bad Pyrmont and later in Herford . He then took over the direction of the Dortmund Philharmonic at the Dortmund Opera House for 10 years as general music director until 1962 and was guest conductor of many internationally known symphony orchestras at home and abroad (including in Malmö, Istanbul, Budapest). In the course of his life he conducted in 23 countries.

From 1962 to 1976 he directed the Siegerland Orchestra in Hilchenbach, today's Philharmonie Südwestfalen . Agop was able to avoid the threatened dissolution of this orchestra. In gratitude and as a token of the orchestra's solidarity with its long-time director, Agop was named "Honorary Conductor for Life".

In 1985 he published an autobiography entitled “Lex mihi ars - Thoughtful and curious encounters with great musicians”. There he writes about his origins:

“I was born in Munich in 1908 - as an Ottoman subject - although not a drop of Turkish blood flows in my veins. But my paternal grandfather came as a full Armenian from Kutahia in Asia Minor, which is still part of Turkey today. Incidentally, he was a traveling meerschaum dealer and married a Hungarian woman in Vienna, which is why my father was born in Vienna in 1878. My father married my mother in Munich in 1906, but still had Ottoman citizenship. It was not until 1915 that I was naturalized with him, that is, transformed from a Turk, who I was no more than my father, into a German. The Armenian name Agop stayed with me. My grandfather was even called Stepan Agopian Kekligian. "

- Rolf Agop

Rolf Agop died on October 15, 1998 at the age of 90 in his house in Hilchenbach. He was married to Ria Agop, nee Gugel.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Riemann Musiklexikon, 1959.
  2. ↑ Founding history> The chief conductors of the Northwest German Philharmonic since 1950 ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b Riemann Musiklexikon, 1972.
  4. ^ "LEX MIHI ARS", Rolf Agop, Thoughtful and curious encounters with great musicians. Kalliope Verlag Siegen, 1985. p. 9

literature

  • Wilibald Gurlitt, Carl Dahlhaus (editor): Riemann Musik-Lexikon. In three volumes and two supplementary volumes. Agop, Rolf. 12th completely revised edition. 1. Personal section A – KB Schotts-Söhne, Mainz 1959, p. 11 (first edition: 1882).
  • Wilibald Gurlitt, Carl Dahlhaus (editor): Riemann Musik-Lexikon. In three volumes and two supplementary volumes. Agop, Rolf. 12th completely revised edition. 4. Supplementary volume, personal section A – KB Schotts-Söhne, Mainz 1972, p. 8 (first edition: 1882).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Agop, Rolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1998
Place of death Hilchenbach