Karl Maria Zwißler (12 August 1900 – 15 September 1984) was a German conductor, and academic. He was for decades the

Generalmusikdirektor A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

and

Intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

of the

Staatstheater Mainz The Staatstheater Mainz (Mainz State Theatre) is a theatre in Mainz, Germany, which is owned and operated by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Situated on the Gutenbergplatz, the complex comprises two theatres which are connected by an undergrou ...

. He taught conducting at the music universities of Stuttgart and Frankfurt.

Career

Born in

Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

, Zwißler studied at the music universities of Heidelberg and Munich from 1920 to 1924, and the following year at the

Akademie der Künste The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

in Berlin. Among his teachers were Bernhard Sekles, Hans Knappertsbusch, Hans Pfitzner and Erich Kleiber, among others.Wolfgang Balzer: ''Mainz – Persönlichkeiten der Stadtgeschichte.'' vol II: ''Personen des religiösen Lebens, Personen des politischen Lebens, Personen des allgemein kulturellen Lebens, Wissenschaftler, Literaten, Künstler, Musiker.'' Druckerei und Verlag Gebr. Kügler, Mainz 1989, pp 362–363. From 1924 he was

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

at the Bavarian State Opera. Three years later he went as conductor to the ''Deutsche Oper'' (German Opera) in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, followed by Düsseldorf and

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

. In 1933, he became Erster Kapellmeister at the

Frankfurt Opera The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

, and two years later musical director. A year later, he was

and Hofkapellmeister of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz at the

. In these years, he conducted works by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

, although the composer's works were regarded as ''

Entartete Musik Degenerate music (german: Entartete Musik, link=no, ) was a label applied in the 1930s by the government of Nazi Germany to certain forms of music that it considered harmful or decadent. The Nazi government's concerns about degenerate music were a ...

'' ("degenerate music"): the suite from '' Petrushka'', the '' Symphony of Psalms'', a production of the ballet '' The Firebird'', and the German premiere of the concerto '' Dumbarton Oaks''. He became

in Mainz in 1942. After World War II, he was Generalintendant. From 1956, Zwißler taught at the

Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German language, German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions ...

. From 1958, he taught conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, and was appointed professor a year later. Among his students was Alois Ickstadt. Zwißler retired from the Mainz Theatre in 1966. He died in Mainz.

Literature

* Wolfgang Balzer: ''Mainz – Persönlichkeiten der Stadtgeschichte.'' Band II: ''Personen des religiösen Lebens, Personen des politischen Lebens, Personen des allgemein kulturellen Lebens, Wissenschaftler, Literaten, Künstler, Musiker.'' Druckerei und Verlag Gebr. Kügler, Mainz 1989 pp 362–363.

References

External links

*
Prof. Karl Maria Zwissler
Theaterfreunde Mainz {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwissler, Karl Maria German male conductors (music) 20th-century German conductors (music) State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart faculty Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts faculty 1900 births 1984 deaths People from Ludwigshafen University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni 20th-century German male musicians