Walter, Bruno

Bruno Walter Schlesinger was born in Berlin into a wealthy Jewish family. He studied composition and playing the piano at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. In his youth he acted as a pianist. In 1894, Cologne made his debut at the Opera House as a conductor with A. Lorzing ’s opera “The Weaponsman” ) ^[1] . In 1894-1896 he was accompanist , choirmaster and conductor at the Hamburg Opera, where he became friends with Gustav Mahler . He worked in the opera houses of Breslau (in 1896-1897) and Presburg (in 1897-1898) ^[2] . In 1898 he converted to Christianity, after which he received the place of the first bandmaster of the Riga Opera, where he worked until 1900. In 1900 he returned to Berlin, receiving a post at the Berlin Royal Opera . Since 1901 he collaborated with Gustav Mahler at the Vienna Court Opera ; remained in the theater even after Mahler left, until 1912; since 1911, he simultaneously led the Vienna Singing Academy ^[1] . In 1910, he accepted Austrian citizenship.

In 1909-1913, Bruno Walter undertook his first foreign tour - in London , Rome and Moscow ^[2] . In 1911 he took a stage name for himself, turning his middle name into a surname - Walter.

It was Bruno Walter Mahler who entrusted the first performance of his " Song of the Earth ", - the premiere took place in 1911 in Munich after the death of the composer; the following year he conducted the premiere of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony . In 1912, he became the successor to Felix Motl as general director of Munich , held this post until 1922.

In 1920, Bruno Walter became the first eminent foreign conductor to visit Soviet Russia on tour. Since 1922 he toured a lot in Europe, mainly in England, France, the Netherlands (with the Concertgebouw Orchestra), Italy; in the years 1923-1925 he embarked on a major tour of the United States; in 1924 - 1931 he directed the German seasons at the Covent Garden Theater ( London ). During 1923 - 1933 he regularly performed with subscription concerts at the Berlin Philharmonic ^[2] .

Since 1925, Bruno Walter led the City Opera in Berlin ; in 1929, Nazi antics forced him (as later Otto Klemperer ) to leave Berlin; in 1929-1933 he directed the Gewandhaus orchestra in Leipzig ; however, Leipzig also had to leave after the Nazis came to power.

Since 1925, Bruno Walter regularly participated in the Salzburg Festival , this collaboration continued until 1937. In 1936 - 1938, Bruno Walter headed the Vienna State Opera, but was forced to leave Austria after the Anschluss . Having found refuge in France, Bruno Walter accepted French citizenship in 1938, but after the outbreak of World War II he was forced to relocate to the United States ^[2] .

Bruno Walter has worked with many major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra , the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , the Philadelphia Orchestra , and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra . Made a lot of records. After the end of World War II, Bruno Walter never returned to Germany, in 1946 he accepted American citizenship.

After the war, Bruno Walter was one of the initiators of the creation of the International Society of Gustav Mahler in Vienna and since 1955 , since its foundation, has been its honorary chairman ^[3] .

The last concert of Bruno Walter took place on November 1, 1960 .

He was buried in Montagnola in the Swiss canton of Ticino in a cemetery at the church of St. Abbond.

Bruno Walter made a number of outstanding recordings, including Mahler's symphonies. One of the conductor's best-known recordings is The Song of the Earth, 1952, with contralto by Kathleen Ferrier and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra . Several more records of this work are known, including an earlier performance of 1936 . He also recorded Mahler’s symphonies No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 9.

In addition to Mahler’s latest works, Bruno Walter also owns the first works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Hans Pfitsner . Under the direction of Bruno Walter, the foreign premiere of Dmitry Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 was also held on November 22, 1927 in Berlin ^[4] .

An important place among the recordings of Bruno Walter is occupied by Beethoven's symphonies (including two complete sets), Mozart, Brahms and Bruckner .

Bruno Walter also performed as an ensemble pianist and accompanist; left a number of literary works, mainly of a memoir character.

Introduced into the Gramophone Magazine Hall of Fame ^[5] .

• Mahlers Weg: ein Erinnerungsblatt. In: Der Merker 3 (1912), 166–171
• Von den moralischen Kräften der Musik. Wien 1935; Dornach 1996, ISBN 3-7235-0844-8
• Gustav Mahler. Ein Porträt. Wien 1936; Wilhelmshaven 1981, ISBN 3-7959-0305-X . (In the Russian translation: Gustav Mahler. Portrait. - Published in the book: Mahler G. Letters. Memoirs, M., 1964 (translation of the first part of the book “Memoirs” from the German edition of 1957).)
• Kunst und Öffentlichkeit. In: Süddeutsche Monatshefte (Oktober 1916), 95-110
• Thema und Variationen. Erinnerungen und Gedanken. Stockholm 1947; Frankfurt am Main 1973, ISBN 3-10-390502-5 (In the Russian translation: Theme and Variations. Memoirs and Thoughts, M., 1969 (series: Performing Art of Foreign Countries, issue 4).)
• Vom Mozart der Zauberfloete, Fr./M., 1955.
• Von der Musik und vom Musizieren. Frankfurt am Main 1957; ebd 1976, ISBN 3-10-090506-7 (In the Russian translation: On music and music-making. - Published in the collection: Performing Arts of Foreign Countries, issue 1, M., 1962.)

• Ratzer E. Ya. Walter B. // Musical Encyclopedia / Ed. Yu. V. Keldysh . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, Soviet Composer, 1973. - T. 1.
• Lehmann, Lotte ; Mann, Thomas ; Stefan, Paul ; Zweig, Stefan . Bruno Walter. - Wien / Leipzig / Zürich: Herbert Reichner, 1936.

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