Johann Baptist Isidor Richter, or János Richter (4 April 1843 – 5 December 1916) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

orchestral and operatic conductor.

Biography

Richter was born in Raab ( Hungarian:

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. His father was a local composer, conductor and ''regens chori'' Anton Richter. His mother was opera-singer Jozefa Csazenszky. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory. He had a particular interest in the horn, and developed his conducting career at several different opera houses in the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He became associated with

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

in the 1860s, and played the solo trumpet part in the 1870 private premiere of the ''

Siegfried Idyll The ', WWV 103, by Richard Wagner is a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra. Background Wagner composed the ''Siegfried Idyll'' as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first ...

''. In 1876, he was chosen to conduct the first complete performance of Wagner's ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...

'' at the

Bayreuth Festspielhaus The ''Bayreuth Festspielhaus'' or Bayreuth Festival Theatre (, ) is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, built by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner and dedicated solely to the performance of his stage works. It is the venue ...

. In 1877, he assisted the ailing composer as conductor of a major series of Wagner concerts in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and from then onwards he became a familiar feature of English musical life, appearing at many choral festivals including as principal conductor of the

Birmingham Triennial Music Festival The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running European classical music, classical music festival of its kind. It last took place in 1912. History The first music festival, over th ...

(1885–1909) and directing the Hallé Orchestra (1899–1911) and the newly formed

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

(1904–1911). In Europe his work was chiefly based 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. ...

, where (transcending the bitter division between the followers of Wagner and those of

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

) he gave much attention to the works of Brahms himself,

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 ...

(who once slipped a coin into his hand after a concert by way of a tip) and

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

(he gave the London and Vienna premieres of the '' Symphonic Variations''); he also continued to work at Bayreuth. In later years, Richter became a fervent admirer and advocate of Sir

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

and he came to accept

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

. On one occasion, he laid down his baton and allowed a London orchestra to play the whole second movement of Tchaikovsky's ''Pathétique'' Symphony itself. Never afraid to experiment on behalf of the music he loved, he lent his authority to an English-language production of ''The Ring'' at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

(January and February 1909). In 1909 he delivered the British premiere, very shortly after the world premiere, in Boston, of

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

's Symphony in B minor "Polonia". Failing eyesight forced his retirement in 1911. He died at

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

in 1916.

Richter's approach to conducting was monumental rather than mercurial or dynamic, emphasising the overall structure of major works in preference to bringing out individual moments of beauty or passion. Some observers regarded him as little more than a time-beater; but others, notably Eugene Goossens, pointed to the remarkable rhythmic vitality of his work, a quality which hardly squares with the image of Richter as a rather stolid and static personality. A rebuke he is supposed to have made to a musician in the Covent Garden orchestra is still sometimes quoted: "Up with your damned nonsense will I put twice, or perhaps once, but sometimes always, by God, never."

Notable premieres

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

: ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'' (1876) * Wagner: ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'' (1876) * Brahms: Symphony No. 2 (1877) * Brahms: '' Tragic Overture'' (1880) * Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (1881; composer, soloist) *

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

: Violin Concerto in D (1881; Adolph Brodsky, soloist) * Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (1881) * Brahms: Symphony No. 3 (1883) * Bruckner: ''

Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...

'' (1885) * Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 (1892) *

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

: ''

Enigma Variations Edward Elgar composed his ''Variations on an Original Theme'', Op. 36, popularly known as the ''Enigma Variations'', between October 1898 and February 1899. It is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar ...

'' (1899) * Elgar: '' The Dream of Gerontius'' (1900) * Dohnányi: '' Symphony No. 1 in D minor'' (1901) * Elgar: Symphony No. 1 (1908)

Notes

References

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Biography

Notable premieres

Notes

References

Further reading