Walter Martin (conductor)

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Walter Martin, 1962

Walter Martin (born December 11, 1911 in Hamburg ; † January 9, 1964 there ) was a German conductor at Norddeutscher Rundfunk . He was director of the Hamburg radio orchestra, pianist and song accompanist as well as professor at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater .

career

Walter Martin began his musical career at the age of 19 as choir director and second conductor of the Schiller Theater in Hamburg-Altona , which played a role similar to that of the Berlin Kroll Opera during the Weimar Republic . It used a modern repertoire. After the theater was closed by the National Socialists , he went to the Hamburg State Opera in 1938 and worked there as a répétiteur and conductor until 1944 .

Walter Martin's grave,
Ohlsdorf cemetery

When the orchestras of the Hamburg station were reorganized by the British occupying forces after the end of the Second World War, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, entrusted with this task, brought Walter Martin to the radio as bandmaster in 1945. After the establishment of the Hamburg Radio Orchestra as the second symphonic orchestra with 70 members (in addition to the NWDR Symphony Orchestra ), Walter Martin became its permanent chief conductor. In addition to numerous radio productions, an abundance of which is still in the NDR archive , the orchestra also played in public concerts under Walter Martin's direction. After Martin's death, the orchestra was disbanded.

Walter Martin accompanied singers like Annelies Kupper , Lore Hoffmann , Henny Wolff , Erna Berger , Erna Sack , Anneliese Rothenberger , Margot Guilleaume and Hans Hotter , Rudolf Schock and Lawrence Winters in song and aria evenings at an early age . Many historically significant recordings have been re-released on CD.

As a lecturer at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater, Walter Martin worked in the Kapellmeister training, in the opera school and for the university orchestra. As a professor he headed the conducting class.

Walter Martin had been married to Helga Luthe, a dancer at the Hamburg State Opera, since 1943. The son Michael Martin emerged from this relationship in 1946.

His grave is in the Ohlsdorf cemetery (Z 32 grave no. 426, Ida-Ehre-Allee south of Chapel 6).

Individual evidence

  1. www.ehemalige-kaifu.de
  2. Stage yearbooks of the German Stage Members' Cooperative from 1933
  3. Volume of the Stage Yearbook 1945–1948
  4. Program magazine "Hör Zu" from June 13, 1956, "Hören undsehen" from July 2, 1957, Swiss radio newspaper from October 9, 1957, Hamburger Echo from April 22, 1960, Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from August 17, 1962
  5. Celebrity Graves