Karl Dammer (2 January 1894 – 4 February 1977) was a German conductor,

Generalmusikdirektor A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

at the

Städtische Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after National Theatre (Munich), Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State ...

from 1937.

Life

Born in

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

, Dammer grew up in Wuppertal-Elberfeld as the oldest child of Gustav Dammer and his wife Josefine. His father came from Breyell on the Lower Rhine, was a merchant and died when his son was 15, his mother was the daughter of the merchant from

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. After finishing school, he studied music at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg with

Hermann Grabner Hermann Grabner (12 May 1886 – 3 July 1969) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. Career Grabner was born in Graz. He studied law at the University of Graz graduating in 1909. In parallel, he studied music with Leopold Suchsland unt ...

and

Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the ...

, became Pfitzner's assistant and met

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

, nine years his senior, who was Pfitzner's deputy at the opera and principal conductor of the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg. In 1914, he went to the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the ...

together with Klemperer and was

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

and

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

there until the end of the war. After that, he worked at the opera houses in Riga, Trier, Aachen and Bremen, where he performed the opera '' Soldaten'' by

Manfred Gurlitt Manfred Gurlitt (6 September 1890 – 29 April 1972) was a German opera composer and conductor. He studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck (composer), Engelbert Humperdinck and conducting with Karl Muck. He spent most of his career in Japa ...

in 1931. In 1934, he came to the

and was appointed

by Hitler in 1937. There, he conducted ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...

'' by Giacomo Puccini, among others, but also symphonic works by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

and

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

. In 1937, he conducted the world premiere of

Kurt Atterberg Kurt Magnus Atterberg (, 12 December 188715 February 1974) was a Swedish composer and civil engineer.Don Michael Randel, editor (1996). "Atterberg, Kurt", ''The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Pres ...

's "Värmland Rhapsody", his musical energy was praised in the international press at the time. In 1939, he was replaced in this position by

Artur Rother Artur Martin Rother (12 October 1885 – 22 September 1972) was a German conductor who worked mainly in the opera house. He was born in Stettin, Pomerania (now Szczecin, Poland). His father was an organist and music teacher. He studied under Hu ...

. Dammer now also joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

and returned to the Cologne Opera as successor of

Fritz Zaun Fritz Zaun (19 June 1893 – 17 January 1966) was a German conductor and music educator and since the foundation of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf / Duisburg) in 1956 until his death was its General Music Director. Zaun grew up in his n ...

as General Music Director. There, together with his Kapellmeister

Günter Wand Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in Elberfeld, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near Bern, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a ...

and Alfred Eichmann, he supervised about 60 opera performances per season. After the destruction of the Cologne Opera House by the air raids in 1943, his work in Cologne was terminated in 1944.Karl Dammer
on Getty Images As early as 1946, he played his part in the reconstruction of musical theatre life as musical director of the

Bonn Opera Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, Musical theatre, musicals, ballets, Play (theatre), plays, and concerts. It o ...

and conducted a series of symphony concerts alongside the municipal music director Gustav Classens. Since 1949, Dammer was only active as a guest conductor of symphony concerts. In 1959, he recorded orchestral works by

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

with the Stuttgart State Orchestra. He spent the rest of his life in

Kreuzlingen Kreuzlingen () is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22 ...

on Lake Constance in Switzerland where he died at the age of 83.

Recordings

* '' Beethoven: Symphony No. 3'',

Staatsorchester Stuttgart The Staatsorchester Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Orchestra; full name, ''Württembergisches Staatsorchester oder Orchester der Württembergischen Staatstheater'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Stuttgart. The orchestra is resident at the S ...

, Club mondial du disque 347, Stuttgart 1959 * '' Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5'', Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Soloist: Walter Bohle, Club mondial du disque 348, Stuttgart 1959 * '' Beethoven: Symphony No. 7'', Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Club mondial du disque 352, Stuttgart 1959 * '' Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale"'', Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Club mondial du disque 356, Stuttgart 1959

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dammer, Karl German conductors (music) Nazi Party members 1894 births 1977 deaths People from Elberfeld Musicians from Wuppertal

Life

Recordings

References

Further reading

External links