Georg Tintner, (22 May 19172 October 1999) 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 whose career was principally in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Although best known as a conductor, he was also a composer (he considered himself a composer who conducted). As a child he was a singer in the

Vienna Boys' Choir The Vienna Boys' Choir () is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other countries. The choir is a privat ...

, the first Jew ever to be accepted; at that time the choir was directed by

Franz Schalk Franz Schalk (27 May 18633 September 1931) was an Austrian conductor. From 1918 to 1929 he was director of the Vienna State Opera, a post he held jointly with Richard Strauss from 1919 to 1924. He was later involved in the establishment of the ...

. At the Vienna State Academy he studied composition with

Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx (11 May 1882 – 3 September 1964) was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic. Life and career Marx was born in Graz and pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earnin ...

and conducting with

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian Conducting, conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zadar, Zara, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (now ...

. Soon he was assistant conductor of 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 ...

. Due to the persecution of Jews, Tintner moved out of Vienna in 1938, arriving in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in 1940. En route, he was falsely accused of being a German spy and arrested in Australia. He conducted a church choir until after the war, when he took over the Auckland Choral Society in 1947, and the Auckland String Players in 1948. He became a New Zealand citizen in 1946. In 1954, he went to

and became resident conductor of the National Opera of Australia (a private company) before joining the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera in 1957. Tintner is credited with pioneering televised opera in Australia. He spent a year with the

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Municipal Orchestra (1966–67) and three years with Sadler's Wells Opera (1967–70) before returning to Australia as music director of the West Australian Opera. In 1974, he rejoined the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera, by then known as the Australian Opera. He became music director of the Queensland Theatre Orchestra in 1976. In 1987 he moved to

, where he became director of Symphony Nova Scotia. In 1998, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. On 2 October 1999, after a six-year struggle with cancer, he jumped to his death from the balcony of his 11th-storey Halifax apartment. Tintner was described as "one of the greatest living Bruckner conductors." He recorded a much-praised complete cycle of Bruckner symphonies for the Naxos CD label shortly before the end of his life (recording sessions: 1995–98). In addition to the eleven symphonies this cycle includes the 1876 Adagio and the 1878 'Volksfest Finale'. Naxos is also releasing a "Tintner Memorial Edition" comprising re-releases of some of his earlier recordings of composers other than Bruckner. A disc of Tintner's piano music has also been released by the same label, valuably revealing a side of the man long-forgotten since his student days. Some of his own early compositions have been recorded: Violin Sonata, Piano Sonata, ''Trauermusik'', ''Chopin Variations'', and Prelude. His daughter was the dancer Hephzibah Tintner (1971–2001), whom he named after the pianist Hephzibah Menuhin. She was the partner of then Lord Mayor of Sydney and later NSW (Labor Party) state politician Frank Sartor.Miranda Devine, ''Cancer fight gets personal for Sartor'', Sydney Morning Herald, 2 June 2002
/ref>

References

External links

* Article
Georg Tintner - The Gift of Being Simple

Georg Tintner - A Displaced Life
(Article by Radio New Zealand) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tintner, Georg Austrian male conductors (music) Austrian male composers Austrian composers Jewish classical musicians Members of the Order of Canada Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss Austrian emigrants to New Zealand Musicians from Vienna Suicides by jumping in Canada 1917 births 1999 suicides Suicides in Nova Scotia Pupils of Joseph Marx 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians 20th-century Austrian composers 1999 deaths