Otto Ackermann (18 October 19099 March 1960) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

who made his career mainly in

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 ...

. Ackermann was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. He studied at

Bucharest Academy of Music The National University of Music Bucharest (, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in 1931, it has functioned as a public university since ...

and the Berlin Hochschule. He conducted the Royal Romanian Opera on tour when aged only 15, and then held many important appointments as operatic conductor, beginning with

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Opera, 1928-1932 (when aged 18 to 23). Then he was at

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

(1932-1935),

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

(1935-1945) and

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. ...

, with much travelling and concert-giving all over

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, and recordings made with the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

, the

Netherlands Philharmonic , informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it ...

and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. He held Swiss citizenship. Ackermann was a close friend of

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life and career L ...

and made

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

recordings of his operettas, which are distinguished by their typical Viennese lilting and phrasing, despite being made with an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

orchestra (the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

). Ackermann conducted the earlier recording of the ''

Four Last Songs The ''Four Last Songs'' (), Op. posth., for soprano and orchestra were composed in 1948 when Strauss was 84. They are – with the exception of the song "Malven" (Mallows), composed later the same year – the final completed works of Richard ...

'' of

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

with

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (; 9 December 1915 – 3 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British lyric soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as w ...

. He died at

Wabern bei Bern Wabern (), or Wabern bei Bern, is a village in the municipality of Köniz in the Swiss canton of Bern. Situated some from the centre of the city of Bern, it can be considered a suburb of that city. Wabern is served by Wabern bei Bern railway ...

(

) in March 1960, aged 50.

References

Sources

*E.M.I., ''A Complete List of His Master's Voice, Columbia, Parlophone and M.G.M. Long Playing Records, up to June 1955'' (EMI, London 1955).

External links

* * 1909 births 1960 deaths Berlin University of the Arts alumni Swiss conductors (music) Romanian male conductors (music) Musicians from Bucharest Musicians from Bern 20th-century Romanian conductors (music) 20th-century Romanian male musicians Romanian emigrants to Switzerland {{Switzerland-conductor-stub