Martin Johannes Sebastian Isepp (30 September 1930 – 25 December 2011) was an Austrian‐born British pianist, harpsichordist, conductor and teacher. He had an international career, and worked with leading singers for several decades. Among those with whom he performed were

Janet Baker Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionary ...

Hugues Cuénod Hugues-Adhémar Cuénod (; 26 June 19026 December 2010)

Hans Hotter Hans Hotter (19 January 19096 December 2003) was a German operatic bass-baritone. He stood 6 ft 4 in and his appearance was striking. His voice and diction were equally recognisable. Early life and career Born in Offenbach am Main, Hesse, ...

and

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...

. For more than forty years he was associated with

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...

, and he held posts in opera houses and music academies in Britain, continental Europe and North America.

Life and career

Isepp was born in

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

, the son of , who was an artist and art restorer, and his wife, a singer and teacher Hélène Isepp, ''née'' Hammerschlag, whose pupils after she moved to Britain included

, Bernadette Greevy,

Heather Harper Heather Mary Harper (8 May 1930 – 22 April 2019) was a Northern Irish operatic soprano. She was active internationally in both opera and concert. She performed roles such as Helena in Benjamin Britten's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at the R ...

and Jeannette Sinclair."Hélène Isepp"
Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 27 June 2014 In 1938 the Isepps fled from Vienna to Britain, where Sebastian secured posts at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

in London and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.Millington, Barry
"Martin Isepp : Piano accompanist to many great singers"
''The Guardian'', 17 February 2012Martin Isepp – Musician, accompanist, teacher and conductor who was a pivotal figure at Glyndebourne and Aldeburgh"
''The Times'', 3 January 2012, p. 46 After studying at Lincoln College, Oxford and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

, Isepp joined

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

English Opera Group The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten (along with John Piper, Eric Crozier and Anne Wood) for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' operat ...

in 1954. In 1957 he joined the music staff of

, where he served for 34 years, in capacities including chief music coach 1973–78 and head of the music staff 1978–93. From 1994 until 2007 he returned annually as chief guest coach. Apart from his work at Glyndebourne, Isepp was head of opera training at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

in New York from 1973 to 1977. He was appointed head of music studies at the National Opera Studio in London in 1978,"Isepp, Martin"
Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition, Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 27 June 2014 and was head of the academy of singing at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, from 1981 to 1993. Isepp frequently conducted performances by Glyndebourne's touring company, and was an associate conductor of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

, New York. Between 2006 and 2008 he was head of music at the Opera Akademie of the

Royal Danish Opera The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

in Copenhagen.Shenton, Kennet
"Martin Isepp – Acclaimed accompanist"
''The Independent'', 17 17 January 2012, pp. 48–49 As an accompanist, Isepp performed with singers including Janet Baker,

Hugues Cuénod Hugues-Adhémar Cuénod (; 26 June 19026 December 2010)

John Shirley-Quirk John Stanton Shirley-Quirk CBE (28 August 19317 April 2014) was an English bass-baritone. A member of the English Opera Group during 1964–76, he gave premiere performances of several operatic and vocal works by Benjamin Britten, recording thes ...

Elisabeth Söderström Anna Elisabeth Söderström (married name Olow; 7 May 192720 November 2009) was a Swedish soprano who performed both opera and song, and was known as a leading interpreter of the works of Janáček, Rachmaninoff and Sibelius.Elizabeth Sleeman, ' ...

and

Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade OAL (born June 1, 1945) is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, th ...

. As a harpsichordist or pianist he took part in recordings of operas by Britten and Handel."Martin Isepp"
WorldCat, retrieved 27 June 2014 Isepp died in London at the age of 81. He was survived by his widow, Rose (''née'' Harris), whom he married in 1966. They had three sons, one of whom predeceased him. Janet Baker described Isepp as "one of the most deeply sensitive musicians I have ever met ... I do not know of anyone in our profession who is regarded with more affection". The obituarist in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' wrote:

Videography

* '' Glyndebourne Festival Opera: a Gala Evening'' (1992), Arthaus Musik DVD, 100-432, 2004

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isepp, Martin 1930 births 2011 deaths Classical accompanists Austrian refugees British classical pianists Male classical pianists British harpsichordists British male conductors (music) British music educators English people of Austrian descent 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians