Wolf-Dieter Hauschild

Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (6 September 1937 – 18 May 2023) was a German conductor, choirmaster, artistic director, composer, harpsichordist and university lecturer.

After working for the East German Berliner Rundfunk from 1971, he was principal conductor of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Rundfunkchor Leipzig from 1978 to 1985. In 1984 he was awarded the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic, but in 1985 he fell out with the GDR authorities and moved to the FRG.

In Stuttgart, he was appointed General Music Director and helped the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra there to national recognition. In 1991 he went to Essen, where he was also opera director of the Aalto Theater from 1992 to 1997. In the 2000s he returned to the new states of Germany and conducted the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. The latter appointed him its honorary conductor in 2004.

Especially with the Berlin and Leipzig radio sound institutions, he brought numerous contemporary works to the world premieres. He also recorded the complete choral works of Johannes Brahms. In Essen he could realize the complete ''Ring'' by Wagner.

Life

Greiz origin

Hauschild was born in 1937 as son of the journalist and dramaturge Franz Hauschild (1907–1996) in Greiz.Günther Buch: ''Namen und Daten wichtiger Personen der DDR''. 4th revised and extended edition . Dietz, Berlin among others 1987, , . His father was co-founder of the "Greizer Musikwochen" and the "Stavenhagen-Wettbewerb". At the age of five, Hauschild received his first piano lessons, later he took up theatre. Looking back he remembered Käthe Reichel, and Dieter Franke with whom he had played in Greiz. Early he began composing, among others he wrote a . From the age of fifteen he composed incidental musics for the theatre of his home town. As a high school student he also received musical composition lessons from Ottmar Gerster in Leipzig.

Studies and professional beginnings in Weimar

At the age of seventeen he began studying music at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar, which he completed in 1959 with three Staatsexamen: Musical composition (Ottmar Gerster), conducting (first with Hermann Abendroth, then Gerhard Pflüger) and piano.Carl Dahlhaus, Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht (ed.): ''Brockhaus ''Riemann Musiklexikon''. In vier Bänden und einem Ergänzungsband''. Supplementary volume: ''A–Z''. 2nd revised and extended edition, Schott, Mainz 1995, . For his final thesis he designed a stage version of Mozart's Singspiel ''Bastien und Bastienne'', which was performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. He completed his training in master classes with Hermann Scherchen and Sergiu Celibidache.Vera Grützner: ''Musiker in Brandenburg vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart''. Jaron, Berlin 2004, , . Until 1956 he was influenced above all by his teacher Hermann Abendroth, whose "overall personality and authority" he greatly appreciated. The latter let him work independently in Weimar with the and lay choir. Furthermore, for Hauschild the conductor and cultural politician Helmut Koch was "an artistic and human father figure.Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Robert Schuppert: ''Auftakt. Gespräche mit Dirigenten: Wolf-Dieter Hauschild im Gespräch mit Robert Schuppert''. In ''Theater der Zeit'' 9/1984, , here .

After his studies Hauschild began his artistic career as répétiteur at the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar.Hella Kaden: ''Hauschild, Wolf-Dieter''. In Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (ed.): ''Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ, DDR. 1945–1990.'' Vol. 1: ''Abendroth–Lyr''. Saur, Munich 1996, , . Also here he composed incidental music for plays. Soon he was allowed to conduct and rehearse contemporary works. After two years he was Kapellmeister. In 1963 in Weimar he brought 's opera ''Der fröhliche Sünder'' of his teacher, Ottmar Gerster, for the world premiere.

Station in Frankfurt (Oder)

From 1963 to 1970 Hauschild was musical director at the Kleist Theater and permanent conductor of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt. His tasks there extended accordingly to both the and the concert series. His repertoire included among others Verdi, Mozart and Bizet. In 1966 he conducted the Kurt Hübenthal's production of Georg Friedrich Handel's opera ''Serse''. He was also responsible for the world premiere of the symphonic work ''Schwedter Impulse'' by Nikolai Badinski as well as the GDR premiere of the opera ''Der zerbrochene Krug'' by Zbynik Vostrak and ''The Rake's Progress'' by Stravinsky. Because of its proximity to Berlin, as Hauschild explained, renowned singers such as Reiner Süß could be won for roles. With the politician Erich Mückenberger, Hauschild at the time advocated a new venue, the future .

Engagement by the Berliner Rundfunk

In 1971 Hauschild was engaged at the Berliner Rundfunk, where he first conducted the Rundfunkchor Berlin. From 1973 to 1976 he was representative of Heinz Rögner at the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. On the radio he met Helmut Koch again, a "fateful acquaintance", as he would later remember. So he represented him at the world premiere of Fritz Geißler's Oratorium ''Schöpfer Mensch''. Further premieres at the MaerzMusik in Berlin were to follow, among others in 1975 Jürgen Wilbrandt's ''Mein Haus hat Erde und Meer'' (speaker Horst Westphal) and Ruth Zechlin's ''Klavierkonzert'' (with Eva Ander), 1976 Wolfgang Strauß' ''4. Sinfonie mit Sopran-Solo'' (with Renate Frank-Reinecke) and Siegfried Matthus' ''Laudate pacem'' (with Renate Krahmer, Elisabeth Breul, Annelies Burmeister, Armin Ude and Hermann Christian Polster) and in 1977 Köhler's ''Der gefesselte Orpheus'' and Lothar Voigtländer's ''Canto General'' (with Brigita Šulcová).

In 1976 Hauschild succeeded Herbert Kegel as leader of the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie. Even after his move to Leipzig, he cultivated the connection to the capital and was a guest conductor at the Deutsche Staatsoper and the Komische Oper Berlin. Thus he took over the musical direction of the Götz Friedrich's production of Verdi's '' Il trovatore''.

Choral conducting with the RSO and Rundfunkchor Leipzig

After conducting works by Luciano Berio in Leipzig in late 1977, Hauschild became principal conductor of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and in parallel head of the MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig. He was able to assert himself against the Leipzig general music director Rolf Reuter and the Halle music director Thomas Sanderling, all of whom had been engaged as guest conductors by the legendary predecessor Herbert Kegel. Steffen Lieberwirth (ed.): ''Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Die Geschichte des Sinfonieorchesters''. Written on behalf of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk by Jörg Clemen, Kamprad, Altenburg 1999, , . In Leipzig, Hauschild maintained the First Viennese School, Steffen Lieberwirth (ed.): ''Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Die Geschichte des Sinfonieorchesters''. Written on behalf of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk by Jörg Clemen, Kamprad, Altenburg 1999, , . thus he continued the "Mozartiana" series begun by Kegel. He also continued to put Concert performances on the programme (Janáček, Wagner among others). On the other hand, he brought with the symphony orchestra and the chamber orchestra various Neue Musik works to world premieres – 1978 Edison Denisov' ''Konzert für Klavier und Orchester'' (with Günter Philipp), 1979 Lombardi's ''Sinfonie'', Neubert's ''Notturno'', Lohse's ''Konzert für Klavier und Orchester'' (with Gerhard Erber) and Dessau's ''Vierzehn Stücke aus "Internationale Kriegsfibel"'' (with Helga Termer, Elisabeth Wilke, Horst Gebhardt and Bernd Elze), 1980 Katzer's ''Konzert für Klavier und Orchester'' (with Rolf-Dieter Arens) and Wallmann's ''Stadien für Orchester und Klavier'' (with Bettina Otto), 1981 Schenker's ''"Fanal Spanien 1936"'', 1983 Lombardis ''Zweite Sinfonie'' and Krätzschmar's ''Heine-Szenen'' (with Wolfgang Hellmich). He was also responsible for several DDR premieres among others in 1979 Ives's ''Holiday Symphony'' and 1984 Zimmermann's ''Pax Questuosa'' and Dittrich's ''Etym''. Like Kegel before him, he always placed contemporary music before Beethoven's '' 9th Symphony'' at the end of the season.Steffen Lieberwirth (ed.): ''Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Die Geschichte des Sinfonieorchesters''. Written on behalf of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk by Jörg Clemen, Kamprad, Altenburg 1999, , . Moreover, he again invited composer-conductors to Leipzig, such as Milko Kelemen, Ernst Krenek and Witold Lutosławski. With the 1979/80 season he introduced weekly morning concerts in the Kongreßhalle Leipzig. After the opening of the Neue Gewandhaus in Leipzig in 1981, the Rundfunkorchester played regularly in the new concert building.Steffen Lieberwirth (ed.): ''Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Die Geschichte des Sinfonieorchesters''. Im Commission of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk written by Jörg Clemen, Kamprad, Altenburg 1999, , . This was followed by an increase in the number of concerts. Hauschild made several recordings with the orchestra, ranging from the music of Telemann and Schumann to Ives, Denissow, Thiele and Krätzschmar, including the complete choral works of Johannes Brahms and several oratorios by Handel.Wulf Mämpel: ''Vorhang auf! 25 Jahre Aalto-Oper. Die Essener Oper ist ein Gesamtkunstwerk und Botschafterin der Musik''. Ed. by Norbert Beleke, Beleke, Essen 2013, , . Extensive guest performances took him among others to the Soviet Union with the Orchestra and Japan. After his departure from Leipzig, it took two seasons before the leadership positions could be filled again with Max Pommer (orchestra) and Jörg-Peter Weigle (choir).

In the course of his opera performances in Leipzig, Berlin and Dresden, Hauschild became the "Wagner conductor of the hour" by the mid-1980s, as Robert Schuppert put it.Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Robert Schuppert: ''Auftakt. Gespräche mit Dirigenten: Wolf-Dieter Hauschild im Gespräch mit Robert Schuppert''. In ''Theater der Zeit'' 9/1984, , here . At the turn of the year 1984/85, he conducted the orchestra which performed in the Palast der Republik in Berlin with the participation of the Leipziger Rundfunkklangkörper and the soloists Reiner Goldberg, Magdalena Falewicz, Uta Priew and Hermann Christian Polster Beethoven's ''9. Sinfonie'', which was broadcast live on the first channel of the Deutscher Fernsehfunk. Hauschild became internationally known in February 1985 through the television broadcast of the Joachim Herz' production of Weber's ''Der Freischütz'', which he presented on the occasion of the (40th anniversary of the destruction of Dresden) for the reopening of the Semperoper. His conducting was highly praised by John Rockwell in the ''New York Times''. The Dresden musicologist Dieter Härtwig (2007) rated Hauschild "among the leading conductors in the GDR".Dieter Härtwig: ''Wolf-Dieter Hauschild wird heute 70 Jahre alt''. In the ''Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten'', 6 September 2007, .

Relocation to the BRD and Stuttgart

After an originally promised double engagement Leipzig-Stuttgart did not come about due to "the rigid attitude of the GDR authorities", as Jörg Clemen explained, Hauschild settled in Stuttgart in spring 1985 on the occasion of a guest performance.Steffen Lieberwirth (ed.): ''Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Die Geschichte des Sinfonieorchesters''. Written on behalf of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk by Jörg Clemen, Kamprad, Altenburg 1999, , . There he became Generalmusikdirektor and chief conductor at the beginning of the 1985/86 season of the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker.''Wolf-Dieter Hausschild'', in ''Internationales Biographisches Archiv'' 14/2005 dated 9 April 2005, in Munzinger-Archiv
Artikelanfang
frei abrufbar) In a statement, he explained that in the summer of 1984, the city of Stuttgart approached him with the request for a permanent guest conducting position, whereby he would take over some of Hans Zanotelli's tasks. After the GDR authorities agreed to this, he agreed in Stuttgart. In April 1985, however, he realized that the GDR authorities "were no longer fully committed to their promise". He felt that he had a duty to the orchestra members and to the Stuttgart city administration and decided "with a heavy heart" to move to the BRD. In the GDR, on the other hand, he was declared ''persona non grata'' and was henceforth also known among fellow musicians as a notorious "" his family only received permission to leave the country two years later. In 1985, Hauschild conducted the premiere in the Stuttgart Liederhalle, of Kelemen's ''Phantasmen'' (with Eckart Schloifer) and in 1987 Yun I-sang's ''2. Violin Concerto'' (with Akiko Tatsumi). Concert tours with the Philharmonic have taken him through Europe, Japan and the USA. According to the cultural journalist Frank Armbruster, he took the orchestra "to a high point in its history. In the end, however, Hauschild left Stuttgart because "he had not succeeded in convincing the city of the need for additional orchestra positions for the Philharmonic," as Armbruster remarked.Frank Armbruster: ''Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, der ehemalige Chefdirigent der Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, wird am Donnerstag siebzig Jahre alt''. In the ''Stuttgarter Zeitung'', 4 September 2007.

In addition to his engagement in Stuttgart, he was guest conductor of the Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover, with which he premiered Kelemen's ''Archetypon'' in 1986. In 1986 he conducted the Staatsorchester Stuttgart bei der Loriot-Inszenierung von Flatows's ''Martha'' am Staatstheater Stuttgart. With the NDR Radiophilharmonie oblag ihm 1992 die Uraufführungen von Tal's ''6. Sinfonie''.

Director at the Aalto-Theater in Essen

In 1991 Hauschild became conductor of the Saalbau Essen and in 1992 additionally artistic director and general music director of the Aalto-Theater, a dual function created especially for him. During his term of office the orchestra was awarded the prize "Best Concert Programme of the Season" 1991/92 by the . In his era the ballets ''Giselle'' by Adolphe Adam and ''Der grüne Tisch'' by Fritz Cohen as well as the operas '' Lady Macbeth von Mzensk'' by Dmitri Shostakovich and ''Tosca'' by Puccini were staged. At the Aalto Theatre, however, he devoted himself above all to the works of Richard Wagner, so he had ''Parsifal'' (1991/92) and ''Tristan und Isolde'' (1992/93) performed here. After seventy years, from 1994 to 1997, together with the director Klaus Dieter Kirst, whom he knew from Dresden, he brought the tetralogy ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' to the stage. Already in GDR times, he had developed a "love for Wagner" through the symphonic works of Bruckner and Mahler, which, however, had to remain "platonic" for a long time, as he explained in an earlier interview. Hauschild also turned his attention to contemporary Eastern European music, premiering Suslin's ''Farewell'' in 1993 and Denissow's ''Concerto for Flute, Clarinet and Orchestra'' (with Dagmar Becker and Wolfgang Meyer) in 1996. His engagement in Essen ended in 1997.

From 1998 to 2001 he was a freelanceHelmuth Fiedler: ''Kapellmeisterliche Kompetenz. Wolf-Dieter Hauschild wird 70''. In the ''Stuttgarter Nachrichten'', 6 September 2018, . He also was active conductor e.g. at the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.

Chief conductor in Halle (Saale) and Rostock

From 2001 to 2004 he was the successor of the permanent guest conductor Bernhard Klee and Chief conductor of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle. In 2003 he premiered Jean-Christophe Marti's ''H aspiré'' at the Neues Theater Halle. With reference to the planned orchestra merger, which he rejected, he ended his engagement with the Philharmonic State Orchestra early.

Besides his engagement in Halle, he was Generalmusikdirektor of the Volkstheater Rostock and Chefdirigent of the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock from August 2002 until 2004,Juliane Hinz: "Er ist einer unserer Allergrößten". onversation with Wolf-Dieter Hauschild In the ''Schweriner Volkszeitung

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