- Karl Rankl
Karl Rankl (1 October 1898– 6 September 1968) was a British conductor and
composer of Austrian birth.Biography
Rankl studied with
Arnold Schoenberg as a private pupil for four years beginning in 1918. His first appointment was as chorus master at theVolksoper inVienna in 1922 where he later became an assistant conductor. This was followed by appointments inLiberec in 1925,Königsberg in 1927 and theKroll Oper inBerlin where he served as assistant toOtto Klemperer from 1928–1931. He became associated with Klemperer's advocacy of modern music. After a brief conducting stints inWiesbaden andGraz , he became director of theNeues Deutsches Theater inPrague in 1937. While there he conducted the first performance ofKrenek 's "Karl V ". At the outbreak ofWorld War II he took refuge inEngland and became a Britishcitizen .He became music director of the
Royal Opera House ,Covent Garden , in 1946, where he significantly reorganized the establishment. He recruited a new company of singers drawing not only from established Britishsingers but also international singers, includingElisabeth Schwarzkopf ,Ljuba Welitsch , andPaolo Silveri . He significantly expanded the repertory of the company which included German, Italian, Russian and English opera. Inspite of these many positive changes, Rankl garnered a reputation for being difficult with singers,orchestras and producers. Some also criticized his conducting, and his weaknesses were particularly criticized in in his 1950 performances of the "Ring Cycle ". However, others such asReginald Goodall , then an assistant conductor, considered these criticisms unfair and felt Rankl was "under-rated".Nevertheless, Rankl resigned as musical director in 1951 and, in the following year, became conductor of the
Scottish National Orchestra , with which he remained for five years. In 1958 he accepted the post of director of the proposedSydney Opera , but because of the delay in the completion of the opera house he never had the chance to take up the appointment.As a composer, Rankl wrote eight
symphonies and astring quartet , the latter of which was first performed at Graz in 1936. He also wrote oneopera , "Deirdre of the Sorrows" (based on J.M. Synge's play), which won one of the prizes offered by the Arts Council for theFestival of Britain in 1951. Rankl's reputation today however, lies almost entirely on his work as a conductor. His opera has never been performed and none of his music has ever been published.ources
*wikicite|id=idGroveMusicOnline|reference=F. Frank Howes: "Karl Rankl", "Grove Music Online" ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 20, 2008), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)]
*"The Oxford Dictionary of Opera", by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), ISBN 0-19-869164-5
External links
* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/rankl/ Interview with Mrs Christine Rankl]
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