Sawallisch, Wolfgang

Conductor, Pianist

Born: 26.08.1923 in Munich

Died: 22.02.2013 in Grassau (Chiemgau)

Sawallisch's musical talent was recognized early on and encouraged on a broad basis. After graduating from high school, subsequent military service and British captivity in Italy, he studied at the State Academy of Music in Munich, where he passed his state examination in 1946.

In 1947, he became répétiteur and general music director (GMD) in Aachen. This position marked the beginning of Sawallisch's internationally oriented activities - guest conducting engagements in Vienna, Prague, Salzburg, Lucerne, at La Scala in Milan and (1957) in Bayreuth with Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde". In 1958, he came to Wiesbaden on the initiative of Karl Elmendorff. At that time, there were still two independent orchestras here, the Orchestra of the Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden and the Municipal Spa and Symphony Orchestra. Sawallisch's predecessors, Karl Elmendorff and Arthur Apelt, had already initiated a merger, which was completed under Sawallisch.

In addition to organizational skills, this also required psychological sensitivity, partly because both orchestras naturally had a first conductor. The task was solved by dividing the functions between opera and concert productions. The larger orchestra gave Sawallisch the opportunity to perform works that required an extensive sound apparatus. These included, for example, the realization of Wagner's "Ring des Nibelungen", "Elektra" and "Die Frau ohne Schatten" by Richard Strauss as well as symphonies by Gustav Mahler, which he began in autumn 1958. The focus of his repertoire was - even later - on classical and romantic works. This did not mean a fundamental skepticism with regard to new music; however, he regarded the classical-romantic tradition as the "basis of every orchestral conductor".

He left Wiesbaden in 1960; a longer-term engagement was not possible due to a promise made to the director Oscar Fritz Schuh before he took up his post here. He followed him to the Cologne Opera as musical director. Further positions included Vienna (Chief Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra), Hamburg (GMD and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra), Munich (GMD, at times also Director of the Bavarian State Opera) and Philadelphia (Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra).

Guest appearances have taken him to the People's Republic of China and Japan. He has also made a name for himself as a chamber musician and Lied accompanist (for Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, among others). He returned to Wiesbaden in 2003 with two Brahms concerts as part of the Rheingau Music Festival. Sawallisch has received numerous awards at home and abroad, including the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class.