Roland Bader (born 24 August 1938) is a German choral
conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Music
* Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra.
* ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas
* Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...
and
music director
A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...
. He is the principal guest conductor of the
Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Opera Krakowska
The Opera Krakowska (also known as the Kraków Opera) is an opera house located in Kraków, Poland. It was founded in 1954 in postwar Kraków, although the tradition of opera in the city dates back to 1628 when the first ever full libretto in Po ...
, officially authorized as representative for their guest performances in Germany and Switzerland. Since 1988 he is the visiting professor at the
Toho Gakuen School of Music in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, where in 1989 he was awarded the distinction of the Professor
Honoris Causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...
in Humanistic Disciplines.
Career
Born in
Wangen im Allgäu
Wangen im Allgäu (Low Alemannic: ''Wãnge'') is a historic city in southeast Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies north-east of Lake Constance in the Westallgäu. It is the second-largest city (Population: 26,927 in 2020) in the Ravensburg distric ...
, he studied first church music in
Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...
, then at the
Musikhochschule Stuttgart, organ, piano, viola and composition, with
Johann Nepomuk David
Johann Nepomuk David (30 November 1895 – 22 December 1977) was an Austrian composer.
Life and career
David was born in Eferding. He was a choirboy in the monastery of Sankt Florian and studied at an episcopal teacher training college in Linz, ...
. From 1958 to 1965, he took private conducting lessons with Hans Hörner, conductor of the Stuttgart Philharmonic.
Bader was cantor in
Böblingen
Böblingen (; Swabian: ''Beblenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are contiguous.
History
Böblingen was founded by Count Wilhelm von Tübingen-Böblingen in 1253. Württ ...
from 1960 to 1967, and in
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...
from 1967 to 1970. He was the chief conductor of an orchestra at
Oberhausen
Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European ...
from 1970 to 1974, and served as director of the
Folkwang Hochschule
The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in E ...
at
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and ...
. Starting in 1974 he was the choral director of the choir of the
St. Hedwig's Cathedral in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
.
Bader's artistic profile rose to new prominence in the 1980s when he served as chief guest conductor with the
Krakow Philharmonic and choral director at
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...
of
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
from 1983. He directed choral performances at the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...
in 1984, and at the European Music Festival in Berlin with the production of
Gustav Mahler's ''
Eighth Symphony'' by
Basel Boys Choir. Bader made numerous recordings throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most notably, with the music 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 his fru ...
,
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versail ...
,
Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...
and others, including mainstream and the lesser-known 18th and 19th century masses by
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
,
Bruch,
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
,
Bruckner
Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Ger ...
,
Weber, as well as
Nicolai,
Suppé, and
Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style duri ...
.
He recorded rarely performed works, for example in 1979 late choral works by
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, as a professor a ...
, including his ''
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
'' ("Seele, vergiß nicht die Toten", after
Hebbel), Op. 144b,
and ''Lateinisches Requiem'' (Latin Requiem), Op. 145,
both with choir and orchestra of the
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...
, and in 1994 the ''First Symphony'' by
Richard Wetz
Richard Wetz (26 February 1875 – 16 January 1935) was a German late Romantic composer best known for his three symphonies. In these works, he "seems to have aimed to be an immediate continuation of Bruckner, as a result of which he actually en ...
with the
Cracow Philharmonic.
Discography
* 1979 ''Max Reger
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
, Op. 144b; Lateinisches Requiem, Op. 145a; Dies irae'',
Marga Höffgen
Marga Anna Johanna Höffgen (26 April 1921 – 7 July 1995) was a German contralto, known for singing oratorios, especially the Passions by Johann Sebastian Bach, and operatic parts such as Erda in Wagner's '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'', perform ...
,
North German Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra, Koch Schwann
* 1986 ''Mozart: Missa brevis KV 65 & KV 258; Missa longa KV 262 "Piccolomini-Messe"'' Koch Schwann
* 1990 ''Mozart:
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
'' Vox
* 1993 ''Gorecki: Sinfonie No.1; Chorus I; Three Pieces in the Old Style'' Koch Schwann
* 1994 ''Haydn:
Die Schöpfung
''The Creation'' (german: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described ...
'' Laserlight
* 1995 ''Bruckner:
Te Deum
The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chu ...
; Gounod:
St. Cecilia Mass
''St. Cecilia Mass'' is the common name of a solemn mass in G major by Charles Gounod, composed in 1855 and scored for three soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ. The official name is ', in homage of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. ...
''
* 1996 ''Otto Nicolai: Te Deum; Motets'' Koch Schwann
* 1996 ''Stanislaw Moniuszko: Overtures & Dances'' Koch Schwann
* 1997 ''Max Bruch: Kyrie, Sanctus & Agnus Dei, Op. 35; Damajanti, Op. 78; Jubilate, Op. 3'' Koch Schwann
* 1998 ''Mendelssohn-Bartholdy:
Elias
Elias is the Greek equivalent of Elijah ( he, אֵלִיָּהוּ ''ʾĒlīyyāhū''; Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ ''Eliyā''; Arabic: الیاس Ilyās/Elyās), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several hol ...
''
* 1999 ''Joseph Joachim: Overtures'' Koch International Classics
* ''Kurt Weill: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2'' Koch Schwann
* ''Mozart: Complete Works, Vol. 7 - Sacred Works, Disc 18'' Brilliant
* ''Mozart: Complete Works, Vol. 7 - Sacred Works, Disc 19'' Brilliant
* ''Richard Wetz: Symphony No. 1''
Notes and references
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bader, Roland
1938 births
Living people
German choral conductors
German male conductors (music)
Knights of St. Gregory the Great
State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni
21st-century German conductors (music)
21st-century German male musicians