Rudolf Moralt (26 February 1902 – 16 December 1958) was a German conductor, particularly associated with

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 the German repertory. Born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, he studied there with Walter Courvoisier and August Schmid-Lindner, and was engaged as a répétiteur at the Munich State Opera under Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch from 1919 until 1923. He was conductor at the opera house of Kaiserslautern (1923–28) and musical director of the opera house in

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 ...

(1932–34). He also worked in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

before being appointed chief conductor at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

in 1940 until his death. In 1942 he made a series of renowned recordings conducting the orchestra of the State Opera with the Austrian soprano Maria Reining.Austro Mechana: Lebendige Vergangenheit recordings no.LV1315. A reliable, unaffected and deeply sympathetic conductor, Moralt was responsible for a high standard of repertory performances in Vienna for almost twenty years. Though overshadowed by the more famous conductors of his time, he nevertheless achieved many notable performances, especially of works by Mozart, Wagner, Strauss, Pfitzner. He appeared frequently at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

, and as guest in many other European cities and in South America. His records include a celebrated Ring Cycle, a notable ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' and a superbly played ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

'' which shows how exceptional his musicianship could be when he had adequate rehearsal time. This little-known recording is amongst the best realizations of the opera, marred only by the fresh but slightly flat singing of Wegner. He died 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. ...

, aged 56.

Sources

* ''Grove Music Online'', Gerhard Brunner, May 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moralt, Rudolf German male conductors (music) German expatriates in Austria Musicians from Munich 1902 births 1958 deaths 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians