Friedemann Karl Riehle (born 30 May 1959) is a German conductor. Riehle was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. After violin lessons at a young age he studied classical guitar in Stuttgart as well as orchestra conducting at the ''Meistersinger Academy'' in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (now Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien). Already as a student he conducted his first opera night with

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

's opera "

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

". In 1995, Riehle was one of the people who founded the

Prague Philharmonic Orchestra The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra () was established in 1995, under the German conductor Friedemann Riehle. The orchestra has since produced many classical and film music recordings, working with labels such as Decca, EMI, Sony BMG and various ...

. With this orchestra Riehle cooperates frequently for recordings, for the Prague New Year’s Concert as well as for concerts abroad. In order to make symphonic music easily accessible for a wider audience and especially for young people, Riehle started in 1997 to cut down long symphonic movements by

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 ...

and

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

to pieces of a duration of about 7 minutes. This idea inspired many conductors years later. Also, in order to incorporate epoch-making music of the 20th century into the classical repertoire, Riehle frequently conducts concerts with classical rock music by

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

and

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

. Riehle has worked with

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

on eleven symphony in rock performances. In August 2015 and 2016 Riehle conducted a rock-concert with the

in 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 ...

house, called Rock the Opera.

From 1992 to 1995 and from 2009 to 2010, Friedemann Riehle was managing director of the Prague Opera Ball for the

Prague State Opera The State Opera (Czech: Státní opera) is an opera house in Prague, Czech Republic. It is part of the National Theatre of the Czech Republic, founded by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1992. The theatre itself originally opened ...

. ''(V roce 1992 tradici obnovil německý dirigent Friedemann Riehle a akce vzbudila nadšené reakce zahraničního tisku.)'' The Prague Opera Ball is the most famous charity event in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

References

External links

Šinkorová se vrací, v drahých šatech provede Plesem v Opeře - iDnes.cz

Ian Gillan z Deep Purple vystoupí s českými filharmoniky - Magazín CeskeNoviny.cz

Prague Opera Ball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riehle, Friedemann German male conductors (music) 1959 births Living people 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians