Walter Goldschmidt

Walter Goldschmidt (born March 16, 1917 in Vienna , † February 26, 1986 in Graz ) was an Austrian conductor and composer .

education

Goldschmidt began his studies at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in the academic year 1933/34, including in the subjects of timpani, general music theory and piano. Other subjects such as bassoon, music theory and the Kapellmeisterschule followed. His teachers were among others with R. Stöhr and F. Hartmann (theory), M. Springer and G. Donath (composition), K. Böhm and L. Reichwein (conducting) and with R. Lach and A. Orel (musicology).

Act

Goldschmidt initially worked briefly at the Vienna Volksoper, but in 1945 he moved to the United Theaters in Graz as Kapellmeister and director of studies, in 1954 he moved to Karlsruhe, in 1957 to the Stadttheater Bern as first conductor of the operetta for the seasons 1957/58 and 1958 / 59 and was particularly responsible for the following productions:

• 1957/58 season
  • Gasparone ( Carl Millöcker , premiere November 15, 1957)
  • The Opera Ball ( Richard Heuberger , December 31, 1957)
  • The Empress ( Leo Fall , February 9, 1958)
  • Wedding night in paradise ( Friedrich Schröder , March 22, 1958)

• 1958/59 season
  • Countess Mariza ( Emmerich Kálmán , September 14, 1958)
  • The Gypsy Baron ( Johann Strauss , October 11, 1958)
  • The Merry Widow ( Franz Lehár , December 31, 1958)
  • The Waltz Queen ( Ludwig Schmidseder , January 25, 1959)
  • Axel at Heaven's Door ( Ralph Benatzky , May 2, 1959)

In 1959 he was responsible for the music (composition of stage music?) For the production of Volpone at the Atelier-Theater in Bern : This production is also the only evidence listed in the Swiss Theater Collection for an appearance by Erika Goldschmidt (as Erika Killer, his second wife ) in Switzerland. The piece premiered on May 21, 1959. In the same year he returned to the Graz United Theaters, where he worked until his death.

At the Mörbisch Seefestspiele he conducted:

• The Hungarian wedding ( Nico Dostal , Festival 1970)
• The Csardas Princess (Emmerich Kálmán, 1971)
• One night in Venice ( Johann Strauss (son) , 1972)
• The bird dealer ( Carl Zeller , 1974)
• The Gypsy Baron (Johann Strauss, 1975)

On May 2, 1975, Goldschmidt led the orchestra of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra with "Works by Johann Strauss" in the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus (organizer: Cultural Office of the City of Vienna, Theater der Jugend), but also the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra .

For the Theater am Stadtgarten in Winterthur he conducted Viktoria and her Husar (Paul Abraham, premiere: March 9, 1984).

Private

Goldschmidt was married and had a daughter (* 1952) and two sons, Matti Goldschmidt (* 1951) and Lukas Goldschmidt (* 1965).

Honors

• Culture Prize of the State of Styria 1984 (namely the Joseph Marx Music Prize with a grant of ATS 50,000) at the suggestion of Carl Nemeth , director of the Graz Opera House, awarded on March 6, 1985 in the White Hall of Graz Castle .
• The name of a street in Graz reminds of him.

Publications (in selection)

On record

• Viennese Nights with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra
• Johann Strauss (together with Gustav Cerny)

On CD:

• The Count of Luxembourg (large cross-section) by Franz Lehár with Lilian Sukis, Helga Papouschek, Eberhard Wächter and the Graunke Symphony Orchestra , 1993, Philips

On DVD:

• The Count of Luxembourg by Franz Lehár with the Graunke Symphony Orchestra , 2007, Universal Music Classics & Jazz

literature

• Uwe Harten : Goldschmidt, family. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-7001-3044-9 .

Web links

• Walter Goldschmidt in the Lexicon of Persecuted Musicians of the Nazi Era (LexM)
• Walter Goldschmidt in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Walter Goldschmidt at Discogs (English)