Fritz Stiedry (11 October 18838 August 1968) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n conductor and composer.

Biography

Fritz Stiedry was born 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. ...

in 1883. While still a law student at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, Stiedry's talent for music was noticed by

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 ...

, who appointed him his assistant at the Vienna Court Opera in 1907. This was followed by other assistant posts, leading to chief conductorships at the operas of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In 1932 he conducted the world premiere of

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

's opera '' Die Bürgschaft''. Stiedry left Germany when

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

came to power in 1933, and from 1934 to 1937 was principal conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. He was involved in rehearsals for the premiere of

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

's Fourth Symphony until the premiere was canceled for reasons, in all probability political, that remain controversial. Some claim that Shostakovich felt Stiedry was unable to deal with the symphony's complexities, but others maintain that the real reason was that Communist Party officials pressured the composer to withdraw the work.www.sfsymphony.org
In 1937, Stiedry left Leningrad for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the New Friends of Music Orchestra in New York, conducting long-neglected works by

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and premiering Schoenberg's '' Second Chamber Symphony''. From 1945 onwards he returned to opera, conducting the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

of New York and co-founding the

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

Opera Workshop. He died in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1968, aged 84. He recorded Haydn's symphonies nos. 67, 80, 99 and 102. His live recording from the Metropolitan Opera of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

's '' La forza del destino'' (omitting the Act I inn scene, as customary there in the 1950s under Rudolf Bing) has been transferred to CD.

Works

* ''Der gerettete Alkibiades'', opera * chamber music

Literature

* Holmes, John L. ''Conductors on record'', Victor Gollancz, 1982. * ''Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert''. Vol. 3, S-Z. Ed.

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek The Austrian National Library (, ) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collection ...

Wien. K. G. Saur, 2002, , p. 1328. * Sadie, Stanley. ''The new Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', Macmillan, 1980. * Lyman, Darryl. ''Great Jews in Music'', J. D. Publishers, 1986. * Sadie, Stanley; Hitchcock, H. Wiley (Ed.). ''The New Grove Dictionary of American Music''. Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1986. * Myers, Kurtz. ''Index to record reviews 1984–1987'', G.K. Hall, 1989. * Pâris, Alain. ''Dictionnaire des interpretes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siecle'', Robert Laffont, 1989.

References

External links

* Article at allmusic.com
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiedry, Fritz 1883 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Austrian classical composers Austrian male conductors (music) German expatriates in the Soviet Union Austrian emigrants to Germany Austrian Jews Austrian refugees Jewish classical musicians Jewish musicians Neoromantic composers Austrian male opera composers Musicians from Vienna Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States University of Vienna alumni 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians Refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union Chief conductors of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra