The conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra in the United States from 1984 to 2002, Christoph von Dohnányi, established this ensemble among the world’s great orchestras.
Born in Berlin on September 8, 1929, into an anti-Nazi family of Hungarian origin, and the grandson of Hungarian composer and conductor Ernst von Dohnányi, Christoph began his career as an assistant to conductor Georg Solti at the Frankfurt Opera in the early 1950s, whom he succeeded as principal conductor in 1968. In between, he worked with the Lübeck and Kassel operas in Germany and the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra (Westdeutsche Rundfunk).
In 1977, he moved from Frankfurt to the Hamburg State Opera, leaving the position in 1984 to take up artistic direction of the Cleveland Orchestra, one of the “big five” in the United States alongside the New York Philharmonic and the Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia orchestras, especially after the efforts of Hungarian-American conductor George Szell from 1946 to 1970.
In Cleveland, “Dohnányi maintained and consolidated the orchestral discipline standards, stylistic refinement, and absolute consistency associated with his formidable predecessor, [conductor] George Szell,” wrote the British specialist magazine Gramophone about the German conductor. “Credit must be given to Dohnányi for matching and sometimes surpassing Szell in Brahms, Schumann, Dvorák, Bartók, Bruckner, and Mozart.”
In 1994, Dohnányi became the principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, a position he reaffirmed as principal conductor in 1997.
In 2004, he returned to Hamburg to be the principal of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra until 2011.
The Salzburg Festival, which raised a black mourning flag for Dohnányi’s death, remembered today, in a statement, the great productions conducted by the maestro since his debut at the Austrian festival in 1962: ‘Die Bassariden’ by Hans Werner Henze, ‘Baal’ by Friedrich Cerha, ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ by Béla Bartók, ‘Erwartung’ by Arnold Schoenberg, and ‘Salome’ by Richard Strauss.
Dohnányi’s last performance at the Salzburg Festival was in 2014, when he conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony.
Today, NDR General Director Hendrik Lünenborg also lamented the “great loss” of “one of the most important figures in international music.”
The Cleveland Orchestra also reacted today to Dohnányi’s passing, recalling “the visionary conductor who elevated [it] to global prominence.”
“Christoph von Dohnányi was a sublime conductor and music director, respected worldwide,” said Cleveland Orchestra President André Gremillet. “His rich family background gave him a unique musical perspective, and the Cleveland Orchestra was fortunate to have him during a significant period of its history. The art and dedication of Maestro Dohnányi evoked deep mutual respect from our musicians, felt by our audience, who admired him greatly.”
Among the Portuguese musicians who worked with Christoph von Dohnányi are Joana Carneiro, principal guest conductor of the Galicia Royal Philharmonic, and Nuno Coelho, principal conductor and artistic director of the Asturias Symphony Orchestra.
