Michael Gielen
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Michael Gielen was born in Dresden in 1927 as the son of the actress Rose Steuermann and Joseph Gielen, later director of the Burgtheater in Vienna. The Nazi takeover forced the family into emigration, first to Vienna, later to Argentina. As répétiteur at the Teatro Colón, Gielen met the great conductors of the time: Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer, Fritz Busch and Wilhelm Furtwängler and witnessed the first magnificent performances of Maria Callas. He became known at the age of 22, performing the whole solo piano works of Arnold Schönberg. Not until 1950 did he return to Vienna to work as conductor at the Staatsoper, together with Clemens Krauss, Herbert von Karajan and Karl Böhm. The most important chapter in his career was Frankfurt am Main, where the cooperation with Ruth Berghaus, Hans Neuenfels, Jürgen Flimm, Harry Kupfer and Volker Schlöndorff, known as the “Era Gielen” (1977-88), became a »central event« also for Gielen himself. He has rendered homage to Bach, Beethoven and Mahler and has made known many of the modern composers. Michael Gielen has never been afraid of uncomfortable truths and therefore his judgements of colleagues are straightforward and unvarnished. To him, music means an offer to an alert audience »to encounter the truth. And this truth is not always pleasant.« |
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Unbedingt Musik. Erinnerungen |
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