Christoph von Dohnányi
Christoph von Dohnányi gained renown as one of the world's most versatile conductors in the last decades of the twentieth century and beyond, earning particular distinction for his interpretations of Romantic music and that of the Second Viennese School. The grandson of the well-known Hungarian composer Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960), Dohnányi studied the piano in his youth. Both his personal life and his musical education were disrupted by World War II; his father and his uncle, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were executed by the Nazis for their complicity in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
After the war, Dohnányi studied law at the University of Munich and entered the Munich Musikhochschule in 1948, taking the institution's top prize in composition and conducting within a few years. He traveled to the United States to study music with his grandfather, who had emigrated to Florida in 1949 and was the composer-in-residence at Florida State University in Tallahassee. In a rite of passage for conductors of his generation, Dohnányi also made the pilgrimage to the Tanglewood Music Center to study conducting with Leonard Bernstein.
He returned to Germany and in 1952 assumed posts at the Frankfurt Opera, then under the leadership of Georg Solti. His career continued apace with posts as Generalmusikdirektor in Lübeck (1957-1963) and Kassel (1963-1969), chief conductor of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra (1964-1969), director of the Frankfurt Opera (1968-1977), and Intendent and Principal Conductor of the Hamburg State Opera (1978-1984). Highlights of his career to that point include conducting the world premieres of two of Henze's operas, Der Junge Lord in 1965 and Die Bassariden in 1966. A full schedule of guest engagements included concerts with the great orchestras of Europe and operas at Covent Garden, La Scala, the Metropolitan in New York, and elsewhere.
In 1984 he assumed his most influential post, as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. With that ensemble, Dohnányi produced a diverse, well-received body of recordings ranging from the music of Mozart and Schubert to that of Ives, Varése, and Lutoslawski. He further honed and maintained the orchestra's razor-sharp sense of ensemble and infused its overall sound with a distinctive warmth. He was succeeded as music director by Franz Welser-Möst in 2002.
Dohnányi was principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London from 1997 to 2008. He has received numerous honors, including the commander's Cross of the Republic of Austria, Germany's Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit, and the Bartók Prize of Hungary. In 2004 Dohnányi became chief conductor of the NDR Symphony in Hamburg, a post he held until 2010.
© TiVo
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Discography
86 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Bruckner: From the Archives, Vol. 4 (Remastered 2024)
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet, Ferdinand Stangler
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 20 Sep 2024
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Bruckner: From the Archives, Vol. 4 (Remastered 2024)
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet, Ferdinand Stangler
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 20 Sep 2024
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird, Symphony in C Major, The Wedding, L'Histoire du soldat, Three Pieces & Concertino for String Quartet, Shakespeare Songs
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, Václav Neumann, Zdenek Kosler, Tokyo String Quartet
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on 4 Jun 2012
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphonie No.4, "Romantique"
Philharmonia Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 7 May 2012
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 (Live)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 10 Jun 2016
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Beethoven: Ouvertures (Mono Version)
Wiener Symphoniker, Christoph von Dohnányi
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Stravinsky, Bartók : Ballet Music
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, Lorin Maazel, Wiener Staatsopernchor
Ballets - Released by Decca on 10 May 2019
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Telarc on 26 Sep 1989
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Bartók & Lutoslawski: Concertos For Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 15 Jan 1990
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 35, 36, 38-41 / Webern: Orchestral Works
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jul 1993
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mendelssohn: The Complete Symphonies
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2010
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Thomas Quasthoff in Verbier (Vol. I / Live)
Thomas Quasthoff, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, James Levine
Classical - Released by Verbier Festival Gold on 28 Oct 2022
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta / Martinu: Concerto for String Quartet & Orchestra / Janácek: Capriccio
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Mar 1995
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Oct 1988
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Telarc on 1 Mar 1984
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Telarc on 1 Feb 1988
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Glass : Violin Concerto - Schnittke : Concerto Grosso 5
Gidon Kremer, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, Rainer Keuschnig
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1993
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Music of Bedrich Smetana
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1995
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Dvorák: Symphony No. 7
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Mar 1987
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Schoenberg: 5 Pieces for Orchestra/Chamber Symphony etc.
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1996
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Oct 1986
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo