William Steinberg

William Steinberg (August 1, 1899 – May 16, 1978) was a German-American conductor.

Biography

Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He was an early protégé of Otto Klemperer. Steinberg left Germany in 1936 for the British Mandate of Palestine, which is now Israel, because the Nazis had removed him from the Frankfurt Opera in 1933 and had limited him to conducting all-Jewish orchestras. [cite web | author= | title=William Steinberg: Biography | url=http://www.maurice-abravanel.com/steinberg_w.html | publisher=MauriceAbravanel.Com | date= 2003-11-17 | accessdate=2007-08-07] Eventually, with founder Bronislaw Huberman, Steinberg became the first conductor of the Palestine Symphony orchestra, which would later be known as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Steinberg was conducting the orchestra when Arturo Toscanini visited there in 1936. So delighted was Toscanini with Steinberg's preliminary groundwork for his concerts that he chose him as his assistant in preparing for the NBC broadcasts.cite web | author= | title=Relief Men | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760952,00.html | publisher=Time magazine | date= 1939-03-13 | accessdate=2007-10-27] In 1930, in Frankfurt, he conducted the world premiere of Schönberg's "Von heute auf morgen".

Steinberg left for the United States in 1938. He conducted a number of concerts with the NBC Symphony from 1938 to 1940. He became music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1945 to 1952. He is best known for his tenure as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1952 to 1976. From 1958 to 1960 he conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1969 to 1972 he conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was also principal guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1966 to 1968. Steinberg guest-conducted most of the major US orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra. Abroad he conducted the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, and WDR Symphony of Cologne. He recorded for Capitol Records, Command Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Everest Records, Musicraft with the Buffalo Philharmonic - the premiere recording of Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 7", and RCA Victor. William Steinberg was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music.Fact|date=October 2007 He died in New York City.

William Steinberg was noted throughout his career for his straightforward yet expressive musical style, leading familiar works with integrity and authority such that they sounded fresh and vital. Despite the dynamic drive of his interpretations, his podium manner was a model of restraint. Referring to some of his more acrobatic colleagues, Steinberg remarked, "The more they move around, the quieter I get."

Steinberg had a wide range of repertoire, including a surprising sympathy for the English music of Elgar and Vaughan Williams. He led several important premieres, including the US premiere of Anton Webern's "Six Pieces for Orchestra," Op. 6. During his first Pittsburgh season, Steinberg conducted works by Bartok, Berg, Bloch, Britten, Copland, Harris, Honegger, Milhaud, Schuman, Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, and Villa Lobos at the Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival. He was also admired as an interpreter of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler. Steinberg was an able accompanist and made notable concerto recordings with violinist Nathan Milstein, pianist Arthur Rubinstein, and pianist Rudolf Firkusny.

Although sometimes criticized for his unusual programming, Steinberg was a champion of certain lesser known works including Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, Reger's Variations on a Theme of Mozart, and his own orchestral transcription of Verdi's String Quartet. Steinberg possessed a wry humor, once remarking that he had conceived the perfect program for the "New York snobs:" an all-Mendelssohn concert. To an interviewer who said he had heard that the conductor did not care for interviews, Steinberg replied that it was fine as long as the subject was one that interested him - "such as myself."

Conductor and music director

*1924 Oper Köln
*1925-1929 Prague State Opera
*1929-1933 Oper Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main
*1936–1938 Palestine Symphony
*1945-1952 Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
*1952-1976 Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
*1958-1960 London Philharmonic
*1969-1972 Boston Symphony Orchestra

elected discography

Recordings made with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for RCA Victor:
* 1970 Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 6
* 1970 Paul Dukas: "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
* 1970 Camille Saint-Saëns: "Danse macabre" with Joseph Silverstein, violin
* 1969 Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 9, D 944 "The Great"
* 1970 Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Op. 28

Recordings made with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for DGG:
* 1971 Paul Hindemith: Concert Music for Strings and Brass
* 1971 Paul Hindemith: "Mathis der Maler"
* 1970 Gustav Holst: The Planets
* 1971 Richard Strauss: "Also sprach Zarathustra", Op. 30

References

External links

*allmusic|41:54660
* [http://www.music.buffalo.edu/bpo/steinber.htm William Steinberg biography] at the University at Buffalo
* [http://www.ray-field.com/steinberg.html William Steinberg] and the Pittsburgh Symphony
* [http://william.steinberg.bioproj.googlepages.com/home William Steinberg biography, anecdotes, and repertoire list]