Hans Walter Kämpfel (22 June 1924 – 22 April 2016) was a German conductor, composer and Generalmusikdirektor in Aachen and Bremen.

Life and career

Kämpfel was born in near

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

. After passing his Abitur in 1942 at the Wilhelmsgymnasium München, Kämpfel studied at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Munich, now the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is ...

, with

Hans Rosbaud Hans Rosbaud (22 July 1895 – 29 December 1962) was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century. Biography Rosbaud was born in Graz. As children, he and his brother Paul Rosbaud performed with thei ...

Joseph Haas Joseph Haas (19 March 1879 – 30 March 1960) was a German late romantic composer and music teacher. Biography He was born in Maihingen, near Nördlingen to teacher Alban Haas from his second marriage, being half-brother to the theologian a ...

and Rosl Schmid, among others. He then began his musical career in 1947 as

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the perso ...

at the

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

. At the same time, he worked for

Karl Amadeus Hartmann Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. Sometimes described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries. Life Born in ...

in the concert series ''Musica Viva'' of the

Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD consortium of public broadcas ...

, which aimed at the performance and dissemination of Neue Musik in Germany. He then spent several years as Kapellmeister at the Stadtischen Bühnen Gelsenkirchen and

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

and as head of opera at the

Zürich Opera House The Zürich Opera House (german: Opernhaus Zürich, links=no) is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zürich. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. ...

before he was called to Aachen in 1958, where he took up the post of General Music Director at the

Theater Aachen Theater Aachen is a theatre in Aachen, Germany. It is the principal venue in that city for operas, musical theatre and plays. It is the home of the Aachen Symphony Orchestra. The original project was by Johann Peter Cremer, later altered by Ka ...

there, succeeding

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

. On 1 September 1961 he finally moved to the Bremer Philharmoniker in the same function, where he remained until 1968. After a period filled with various guest contracts, Kämpfel took over as chief conductor of the symphony orchestra of the

Zorneding Zorneding is a community in district of Ebersberg, Upper Bavaria, Germany. It lies some 20 km east of Munich, Bavaria’s capital. Geography Neighbouring communities In the northwest, Zorneding borders on the community of Vaterstetten, in t ...

Baldham Baldham is a district of Vaterstetten in the Upper Bavarian district of Ebersberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km east of the state capital Munich and 15 km west of the district capital Ebersberg. Geography Vaterstetten i ...

cultural association in

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

from 1974 to 2004. In 1990, he founded the ''Bavarian Classics'', a classical 40-piece orchestra with long-time experienced musicians of the symphony orchestra of the cultural association Zorneding. Depending on the programme, he strengthened this orchestra with soloists and renowned guest musicians. With the Bavarian Classics he made numerous guest appearances in Munich, Frankfurt, Geneva, Graz and Shanghai. With a chamber music formation of this orchestra, Kämpfel was a guest in 1995 in the ancient theatre and archaeological museum in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...

/Turkey and in the Seagarden in

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

as well as in the

Ankara Opera House Ankara Opera House ( tr, Opera Sahnesi) of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet is the largest of the three venues for opera and ballet in Ankara, Turkey, the other two being ''Leyla Gencer Sahnesi'' in Ostim and ''Operet Sahnesi'' (Operetta Theater) ...

. From 2004 on, he retired from all functions due to age, but kept the direction of the serenade concerts. Throughout his career, Kämpfel has repeatedly received guest contracts at the renowned opera houses in Bochum, Zurich, Graz, Barcelona, Lisbon, and at the Teatro La Fenice Venice,

Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi The Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi is an opera house located in Trieste, Italy and named after the composer Giuseppe Verdi. Privately constructed, it was inaugurated as the Teatro Nuovo to replace the smaller 800-seat "Cesareo Regio Teatro di San P ...

Trieste,

Teatro San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent ...

Naples. He has performed with renowned orchestras such as the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

, the Limburg Symphony Orchestra Maastricht, the Northwest German Philharmonic Herford, the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Firenze, the Ankara State Orchestra, the

Mozarteum Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg ( German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...

, the Athens and Thessaloniki State Orchestras and the Philharmonic Orchestras of Nagoya, Tokyo and Sapporo. On 30 June 2001, Hans-Walter Kämpfel was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Art in recognition of his numerous merits. Kämpfel died in

''Hans Walter Kämpfel ist tot.''
In ''sueddeutsche.de.'' Süddeutsche Zeitung, 25 April 2016, retrieved 23 November 2020. at the age of 91.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kampfel, Hans Walter German conductors (music) Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1924 births 2016 deaths People from Ingolstadt