Siegfried Köhler (conductor)

Siegfried Köhler (30 July 1923 – 12 September 2017) was a German conductor and composer of classical music. He worked as general music director of opera houses such as Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and the Royal Swedish Opera. Köhler conducted premieres of works by Hans Werner Henze and Volker David Kirchner, among others, and revived rarely performed operas. He also composed music for the stage and taught at universities of music in Cologne and Saarbrücken.

Career

Born in Freiburg im Breisgau the son of a horn player, Köhler studied harp at the Musikhochschule Freiburg. From 1942, he worked at the Theater Heilbronn as a harpist and repetiteur. During World War II he was a ''Funker'' (radio operator). He conducted from 1946 in Freiburg, promoted in 1952 to ''1. Kapellmeister'' (first conductor). From 1954, he worked at the opera in Düsseldorf. From 1957, he conducted at the Cologne Opera, and later became its Generalmusikdirektor (GMD). He conducted there in 1958 the first staged performance of Hans Werner Henze's ballet ''Das Vokaltuch der Kammersängerin Rosa Silber'', with choreography by . He was also director of the ''Opernstudio'' of the Hochschule für Musik Köln. Köhler was GMD in Saarbrücken from 1964 to 1974, and simultaneously was professor of conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Saar. The soprano Inge Borkh recalled that Köhler was called to the Staatsoper Stuttgart to step in to prepare Richard Strauss' ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'' in 1970 because he had an understanding of the singers' breathing techniques.

From 1974 to 1988, Köhler was GMD at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. He presented an unusual repertoire, including Auber's ''Die Stumme von Portici'' and Wagner's ''Rienzi'' (with Jon Buzea

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