Dietfried Bernet (14 May 1940 – 23 May 2011) was an Austrian orchestra conductor.

Life

Born in Vienna, Bernet studied in his native hometown with

Hans Swarowsky Hans Swarowsky (September 16, 1899September 10, 1975) was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth. Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss. Jiří Vysloužil ...

and

Dimitri Mitropoulos Dimitri Mitropoulos (; – 2 November 1960) was a Greek and American conductor, pianist, and composer. Life and career Mitropoulos was born in Athens, the son of Yannis and Angelikē (Angeliki) Mitropoulos. His father owned a leather goods s ...

, conducted his first concerts at the

Vienna Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Great ...

at the age of 18 and won 1st prize at the International Conducting Competition in Liverpool at the age of 22. At 23, he conducted Verdi's '' La traviata'' at the Spoleto Festival (directed by

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...

), was conductor at the

Vienna Volksoper The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...

at 24, conductor at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

at 26, and

General Music Director 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 ...

of the

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz The Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz (literally: Philharmonic State Orchestra of Mainz), is the resident orchestra of the Staatstheater Mainz. In addition to musical theatre and Tanztheater, youth symphony and chamber concerts are part of ...

at 34. From 1995 to 2000, he was guest principal conductor at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen. He has appeared regularly with the major orchestras of Europe and overseas such as the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

in Buenos Aires, the

Teatro La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix (mythology), Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especial ...

in Venice,

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

in Brussels as well as Zurich, Hamburg, the US, Canada, Brazil, Chile, conducted at major opera houses such as the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

, the Houston Grand Opera, the

, the

Deutsche 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 Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

, the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

, the

Bavarian State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under El ...

, the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

, Cologne, Stuttgart, Monte Carlo, Catania, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, the

Teatro San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and a ...

Naples and any others. From 2005 to 2008, Bernet was honorary conductor and music director of the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra Innsbruck, conducted at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

, the

Festival dei Due Mondi The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conc ...

, the 1996, 1999, 2005

Glyndebourne Festival Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

, the 2003 and 2005

Bregenz Festival Bregenzer Festspiele (; Bregenz Festival) is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz in Vorarlberg (Austria). It features a large floating stage which is situated on Lake Constance. History The Festival becam ...

(CD recording Bohuslav Martinů's ''

Julietta ''Julietta'' is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, in French, based on the play ''Juliette ou la Clé des songes'' (''Juliette, or The Key of Dreams)'' by the French author Georges Neveux. A libretto in Czech was later pr ...

''). Along the way, he made numerous radio, television and CD recordings. As a composer, Bernet has a work published by Universal-Edition. For Bärenreiter Verlag he has translated Bohuslav Martinů's Czech opera ''Julietta'' into German together with and is the author of the book ''Argumente für den Herrn im Frack. Was Sie schon immer über das Dirigieren wissen wollten.'' Bernet was a member of the

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

''Equality'' since 1970 and a founding member of the ''Zur Wahrheit'' lodge in 1974. Bernet died in

Hohenems Hohenems (High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Ems'') is a town in the Austrian States of Austria, state of Vorarlberg in the Dornbirn (district), Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a populat ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

at the age of 71.

Awards

* (awarded by the Austrian Federal President) *

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

(2001) * Multiple awards with the "Premio de Criticos" by the ''Circolo de Criticos''.

Publication

* ''Argumente für den Herrn im Frack. Was Sie schon immer über das Dirigieren wissen wollten''''Argumente für den Herrn im Frack : was Sie schon immer über das Dirigieren wissen wollten''
on WorldCat Limbus Verlag, Hohenems 2008, .

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernet, Dietfried Austrian conductors (music) Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Austrian Freemasons 1940 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Vienna