Rudolf Bibl (4 May 1929 – 27 January 2017) was an Austrian conductor and pianist.

Life

Born in Vienna, parallel to attending a Gymnasium, Bibl studied piano, clarinet, composition at the

Wiener Musikakademie The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

and attended the conducting class of

Hans Swarowsky Hans Swarowsky (September 16, 1899September 10, 1975,) was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth. Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss. Jiří Vysloužil, ...

. From 1948, he was

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 person ...

at 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 ...

. From 1960, he worked at the Vienna Raimundtheater and the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

. From 1969 to 1973, he was

music director 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 ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, from where he gave guest performances in France and Luxembourg. From 1973, he was conductor at the

Volksoper Wien The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...

, where he conducted over 2,200 performances, including '' Der Vogelhändler'', ''

Die lustige Witwe ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt t ...

'', '' Die Csárdásfürstin'' and ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original ...

''. From 1995 to 2008, he was musical director of the

Seefestspiele Mörbisch The Seefestspiele Mörbisch, originally: Seespiele Mörbisch, is an annual operetta festival in Mörbisch am See (Austria). With around 150,000 visitors, the Mörbisch Lake Festival is the world's largest festival of the operetta genre. In additi ...

, for which he put together his own orchestra, the ''Symphonieorchester Burgenland'', consisting of students from the . Guest performances and concert tours abroad took him to Japan, Italy, Germany and France, for example, to the

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

and the

Opéra Bastille The Opéra Bastille (, "Bastille Opera House") is a modern opera house in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. Inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand's '' Grands Travaux'', it became the main facility of the Paris N ...

in Paris.''Prof. Rudolf Bibl: Professor Rudolf Bibl deceased''

, retrieved 25 July 2021Elena Habermann
''Vienna/Volksoper: Die Fledermaus - Festvorstellung zum 85. Geburtstag von Professor Rudolf Bibl''

Der neue Merker The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

, 14 May 2014, retrieved 25 July 2021. At the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

, he conducted ''Die Fledermaus'' and ''Die lustige Witwe'' from 1999 to 2003. Bibl remained closely associated with the Vienna Volksoper until the end. In May 2016, he conducted three performances of Kálmán's '' Die Csárdásfürstin'' as part of a guest performance in Tokyo, his last conducting was a performance of ''

'' on 1 January 2017. According to the house, he conducted 2273 performances at the Vienna Volksoper. Bibl died at the age of 87, in

Frontignan Frontignan (; ) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Frontignan is renowned for its AOC wine, the Muscat de Frontignan, a sweet wine made solely from the Muscat grape variety. Geography Frontignan is located in the ...

, France. Bibl was the grandson of the composer and organist of the same name (1832–1902) and nephew of the historian Viktor Bibl.

Awards

* 1988: Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst I. Klasse.''Liste der Träger des Ehrenzeichens für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich''
(PDF) retrieved 25 July 2021. * 1991: Honorary member of the

Wiener Volksoper The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...

. * 1999:

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

. * 2004: Great .''Ehrenzeichen für Rudolf Bibl und Rolf Langenfass''.
In ' im Österreich Journal, 29 September 2004; retrieved 25 July 2021 * 2013: Honorary member of the

.''Rudolf Bibl erstes Ehrenmitglied von Mörbisch''.
''

Kleine Zeitung ''Kleine Zeitung'' (, ''Small Newspaper'') is an Austrian newspaper based in Graz and Klagenfurt. As the largest regional newspaper in Austria, covering the federal states Styria and Carinthia with East Tyrol, the paper has around 800,000 readers ...

'', 12 July 2013; retrieved 25 July 2021. * Presentation of the .

References

External links

* * * *
Rudolf Bibl
on Operabase
Nachruf auf Rudolf Bibl
Volksoper Wien {{DEFAULTSORT:Bibl, Rudolf Austrian conductors (music) Austrian classical pianists Male classical pianists Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class 1929 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Vienna

Life

Awards

References

Further reading

External links