Erich Bergel (1 June 1930 – 3 May 1998) was a trumpet player and conductor.

Career

Born in Râşnov, Bergel was a flutist of the Hermannstädter Philharmoniker age 18. From 1950 to 1955 he studied

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

, organ and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

at the

Gheorghe Dima Music Academy Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy is an educational institution located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The institution was founded in 1919, and currently comprises various departments including composition, conducting, musicology, musical pedagogy, c ...

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

(Klausenburg). He was appointed principal conductor of the Cluj Philharmonic Orchestra and guest conductor of the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra. He defected to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he was promoted by

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...

. He conducted notable orchestras on tours to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He was also a teacher at the

Hochschule der Künste The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

. From 1971 to 1974 he was the principal conductor of the

Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (North West German Philharmonic) is a German orchestra, symphony orchestra based in Herford. It was founded in 1950 and, along with Philharmonie Südwestfalen and Landesjugendorchester NRW, is one of the 'official ...

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford (district), Herford. Geography ...

. He conducted them in a recording of '' Les Djinns'', a symphonic poem for piano and orchestra of

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

, with pianist

Volker Banfield Volker Banfield (born 9 May 1944, Oberaudorf, Bavaria) is a German classical pianist.Jeremy Siepmann, "Banfield, Volker" in Sadie, Stanley; John Tyrrell, eds. (2001). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd edition. New York: Grov ...

. In 1989 he was appointed principal conductor for life of the

Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra The Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Filharmóniai Társaság Zenekara'') is Hungary's oldest extant orchestra. It was founded in 1853 by Ferenc Erkel under the auspices of the Budapest Philharmonic Society. For many years i ...

. In 1991 he recorded

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

's second violin concerto with

Silvia Marcovici Silvia Marcovici (born 30 January 1952) is a Romanian classical violinist. Born in Bacău, Romania, to a Jewish family, she studied at the Conservatory in Bucharest. Her international debut was at the age of sixteen when she performed in The Ha ...

and the Budapest Radio Orchestra. He recorded his arrangement of Bach's ''

Die Kunst der Fuge ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

'' with the Cluj Philharmonic Orchestra. He died in

Ruhpolding Ruhpolding is the municipality with the biggest area of the Traunstein district in southeastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the south of the Chiemgau region in the Alps and next to the Austrian border. Ruhpolding has a biathlon track. ...

Publications

* ''Johann Sebastian Bach, die Kunst der Fuge: Ihre geistige Grundlage im Zeichen der thematischen Bipolarität'', Brockhaus Musikverlag Bonn, 1980, * ''Bachs letzte Fuge'', Brockhaus Musikverlag Bonn, 1985,

Literature

* Hans Bergel: ''Erich Bergel. Ein Musikerleben'', Gehann-Musik-Verlag, 2006,

References

External links

Erich Bergel
on Budapest Music Centre

on bach-cantatas
Erich Bergel
on the website of ''Forum der Deutschen im Kreis Kronstadt'' (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergel, Erich People from Râșnov German male conductors (music) Berlin University of the Arts faculty 1930 births 1998 deaths 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians