Fritz Zaun (19 June 1893 – 17 January 1966) was a German conductor and music educator and since the foundation of the

Deutsche Oper am Rhein The Deutsche Oper am Rhein (German Opera on the Rhine) is an opera company based in Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The opera also has an associated classical ballet company. Axel Kober has been its Music Director since 2009. The resident orchestra, t ...

(Düsseldorf /

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

) in 1956 until his death was its General Music Director. Zaun grew up in his native town of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and studied music and theatre studies, philosophy and literature in Cologne and Bonn. He received his first engagement in his native town: under the general music director

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

he became choir director at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in th ...

. His further stations: opera director in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

, opera director at the Zurich Opera House, until 1939 general music director of the Cologne Opera and director of the Berlin Municipal Orchestra. Together with

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

, he shaped the musical life in Berlin. He experienced the end of the war in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, where he was opera director and principal conductor of the

Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra ( Croatian: ''Zagrebačka filharmonija'') is an orchestra based in Zagreb, Croatia. It was officially founded on the 30 November 1919. History The origins of the orchestra can be found in the opera ensemble of ...

(1945–1956). Afterwards, he was involved in the reconstruction of the

Graz Opera The Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Graz. The orchestra of the opera house also performs concerts as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (''Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester''). History Opera h ...

. Guest performances took Zaun all over Europe and to South America. His favourite composers were Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss,

Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the ...

and

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

, whose works he repeatedly performed, especially at the Rhine Opera, for whose artistic level he was jointly responsible – together with

Alberto Erede Alberto Erede (8 November 190912 April 2001) was an Italian conductor, particularly associated with operatic work. Born in Genoa, Erede studied there before studying at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, then with Felix Weingartner at Basle, and ...

, Hermann Juch and Grischa Barfuss – in the 1960s. His last conducting engagement was a performance of ''

Der fliegende Holländer ' (''The Flying Dutchman''), WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden in 1843. Wagner cla ...

'' in Düsseldorf.Fritz Zaun
on AllMusic Zaun's family grave is at the Melaten-Friedhof in Cologne although he died in Düsseldorf at the age of 73.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaun, Fritz German conductors (music) 1893 births 1966 deaths Musicians from Cologne

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