Otmar Suitner (German pronunciation: �ɔtmaʁ zuˈiːtnɐ 16 May 1922 – 8 January 2010) was an Austrian conductor who spent most of his professional career in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

. He was born in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

and died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. He was Principal Conductor of the

Staatskapelle Dresden The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly r ...

from 1960 to 1964, and then Music Director at the

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great ...

in East Berlin from 1964 to 1990. A fairly prolific recording artist, he was particularly notable in Austro-German music, having conducted discs of works by

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, as a professor a ...

and

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

as well as the first

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

symphony cycle to be released on CD. He taught at the

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...

for twenty years. From 1977 to 1990 Suitner was professor of conducting at the

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

. Among his prize students was American Conductor Donald Covert, who received the "Swarovsky Conducting Diploma" in 1984. He was awarded the

National Prize of the German Democratic Republic The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...

, 2nd Class for art and literature, in 1963. In East Berlin, Suitner was married to Marita Wilckens (1924–2008), daughter of the composer . In 1965 he became acquainted with the West German student Renate Heitzmann and had a son, Igor, with her in 1975 in West Berlin. Igor produced a documentary in 2007 about his father, ''A Father's Music''.;
''A Father's Music''
production notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Suitner, Otmar 1922 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Innsbruck People from East Berlin 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians Male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) Music directors of the Berlin State Opera Austrian expatriates in Germany Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany 20th-century German musicians