Rudolf Schwarz (conductor)

Rudolf Schwarz CBE (29 April 1905, Vienna – 30 January 1994, London) was an Austrian conductor who became a British citizen and spent the latter half of his life in England.

Biography

Early life

Schwarz was born in Vienna and studied with the composers Hans Gál and Richard Strauss. Having played viola in the Vienna State Opera orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic in 1922, he made his conducting debut in Düsseldorf in 1924.

Conducting in Germany

After opera experience in Düsseldorf, Schwarz moved to Karlsruhe in 1927 as first conductor at the State Theatre alongside Josef Krips and Joseph Keilberth. There he conducted all Wagner operas except Tristan und Isolde, and also gave symphony concerts. The Civil Service Law of 7 April 1933 meant that he was dismissed by the Nazis because he was Jewish.cite news | author=Bernard Josephs | title=Stepson hits back at academic over Nazi slur on father | url=http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?AId=50337&ATypeId=1&search=true2&srchstr=Rudolf%20Schwarz%20&srchtxt=1&srchhead=1&srchauthor=1&srchsandp=1&scsrch=0 | work=Jewish Chronicle | date=15 February 2007 | accessdate=2007-08-18]

In 1936 he became a director of the "Kulturbund Deutscher Juden" (JKB) in Berlin, a German-Jewish cultural organization backed by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry of Joseph Goebbels which allowed Jewish artists to perform for Jewish audiences. He also conducted in Gothenburg between 1936 and 1938. He was imprisoned by the Nazis, in 1939 to 1940, and when the JKB was dissolved in 1941 he was deported to Auschwitz, from where his release was secured by Wilhelm Furtwängler’s wife Zitla. Then however he was sent to Sachsenhausen and ended up in Belsen concentration camp in 1945Patmore (2008)] . While at Auschwitz he suffered a broken shoulder-blade, which inhibited his gestures as a conductor in later life.Griffiths, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pnz1UH1tLjEC&pg=PA17&vq=schwarz&dq=%22rudolf+schwarz%22+conductor&as_brr=3&sig=sG7OOBhceVK0LdRC__PRJtMqPEQ pp. 17-18] ] The effects of this injury on his conducting style can be seen in a DVD of him conducting the finale of the Brahms Violin Concerto with Oistrakh in May 1958. [EMI Classic Archives DVD 4928379; David Oistrakh]

It is not clear why Schwarz did not attempt to leave Germany in 1939. Possible explanations include the security of his employment with JKB and the difficulty of finding work elsewhere. [Patmore (2008), p. 50]

Career in Britain

After the end of World War II Schwarz was taken to Sweden to recover from typhoid, [Bournemouth Sinfonietta concert programme, November 1975.] and there met his future second wife Greta. He was preparing to go to America when in 1947 his brother in London sent him an advertisement for a post in Bournemouth. After the trial concerts the orchestra voted unanimously for his appointment in 1947 to lead the newly-reformed Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, and was central to its rebuilding, with notable performances of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mahler's Song of the Earth with Kathleen Ferrier and Richard Lewis and Bax's 3rd Symphony at the Festival Hall in 1951. [Carpenter R. Obituary - Rudolf Schwarz 1905-1994. Quarter Note, Magazine of Bournemouth Orchestras, No 18, Spring 1994.] The workload however was immense: Schwarz was required to lead 150 concerts in his first season.

He was praised by as Director of Music at the BBC. Conflict between Glock and Schwarz over such matters as style and repertoire may have contributed to the conductor's departure from the organization in 1962.

In 1964 Schwarz was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Northern Sinfonia, where he served until 1973. [Griffiths, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pnz1UH1tLjEC&pg=PA17&ots=BHM7HyiRvL&dq=%22rudolf+schwarz%22+conductor&as_brr=3&sig=6sz-KUmvofJL8i2YYG9Z1Uc0aEI#PPA101,M1 p. 101] ] Schwarz returned to Bournemouth as a regular guest from 1970 to 1979, and also held guest appointments in Bergen, and with the English Opera Group and National Youth Orchestra. In June 1973 he was appointed a CBE [Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra concert programme. Western Orchestral Society, September 1977.] .

Musicianship

Schwarz's work with the Northern Sinfonia was praised by many of the musicians who played under him: violinist Martin Hughes said that his "sense of rhythm, structure and tempo was exceptional" and clarinettist George McDonald reflected that "he made the Sinfonia listen to themselves -- blend with each other ... he helped form the Orchestra's style and gave them musical discipline."

Oboist Janet Craxton praised his selflessness, while David Patmore considers that he "may not have been a great conductor, but he certainly was a great musician".

In later life, Schwarz was acknowledged as a "formative influence" by Simon Rattle, teaching the younger conductor "the paramount importance of imposing his pulse on the music he played". [cite book | last=Lebrecht | first=Norman | title=The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power | year=2001 |publisher=Citadel Press | edition=Revised and Updated Edition | isbn=0806520884 | pages=pp. 292-293 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eHfvpkp7lSQC&pg=PA292&vq=schwarz&dq=%22rudolf+schwarz%22+conductor&as_brr=3&sig=r_PvqaQHFx7M-TuU7sTYYMG45yY] According to Rattle, Schwarz never "gave any interpretation that didn’t have a real truth about it".

Recordings

Schwarz's 1958 recording of Mahler's "Symphony No. 5" with the London Symphony Orchestra originally for the "Everest" label has been highly praised. [cite book | last=Smoley | first=Lewis M. | title=Gustav Mahler's Symphonies: critical commentary on recordings since 1986 | edition=first edition | year=1996 | publisher=Greenwood Press | location=Westport, CT | isbn=0313297711 | pages=132-133 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Q3dy15LA4eQC&pg=PA132&vq=schwarz,+rudolf&dq=konoye+mahler&sig=-l9a0SxOvs2XERGx83RYv75S3Bg | quote=Sound and balances are superb for this vintage recording and playing is generally clear and precise as well as idiomatic. The opening of the first movement has a magnificent martial quality with a superb march tread... The "klagend" outburst near the close is shattering.] [cite web | last=Duggan | first=Tony | title=Mahler: Symphony No.5 Schwarz: Classical CD Reviews | publisher=MusicWeb | month=May | year=2000 |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/may00/Mahler5Schwarz.htm | accessdate=2007-07-21] In addition he conducted for many concerto recordings, as well as the Dvorak Slavonic Dances (BBCSO), and Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies (Philharmonia). He started and ended his recording career with the Bournemouth orchestra: several overtures in the early 50s and an LP of Schubert overtures in 1980 (all EMI). There are further broadcast recordings by Schwarz in the British Library Sound Archive.

References

Bibliography

*
* cite journal
first=David
last=Patmore
title=Rudolf Schwarz -- the Musician’s Musician
journal=Classic Record Collector
month=Summer
issue=53
year=2008
pages=pp. 49-54 (This article draws extensively on doctoral research by Caroline Exon, University of Birmingham, 2004.)

External links

* [http://www.hansgal.com/biography/22-newworks.html Hans Gál page]