Václav Neumann (29 October 1920 – 2 September 1995) was a Czech conductor,

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, violist, and opera director.

Life and career

Neumann was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, where he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Micka (

), and Pavel Dědeček and Metod Doležil (

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

) from 1940 through 1945. He co-founded the Smetana Quartet, playing 1st violin and then viola. Neumann made his debut as a conductor with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1948, remaining as a conductor with that ensemble through 1950. In 1951 he became principal conductor of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. He left that post in 1954 to become principal conductor of the Brno Symphony Orchestra (SOKB). In 1956, he began to conduct at the Komische Oper in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

; beginning with a celebrated production of Janáček’s '' The Cunning Little Vixen'' on 30 May 1956. He toured with that production to Paris and Wiesbaden; conducting a total of 215 performance between the three cities. He remained at the Komische Oper for eight years, leaving in 1964 to become conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and General Music Director of the Leipzig Opera. He stayed there until 1968, when he became principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, a post he held until 1990 and again in 1992-1993. He was concurrently General Music Director of the Stuttgart Staatsoper from 1970 through 1973. Neumann taught conducting at the Prague Academy for Music, where his students included Oliver von Dohnányi and Vítězslav Podrazil. Neumann was particularly noted as a champion of Czech music, and made the first studio recording of

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

's opera '' The Excursions of Mr. Brouček'' in 1962. Neumann can be seen conducting the Czech Philharmonic in a recording of the Dvořák Cello Concerto with Julian Lloyd Webber. This is featured in the 1988 film '' Dvorak - In Love?'' by director Tony Palmer.

References

External links

* František Sláma Archive: More on the history of the Czech Philharmonic between the 1940s and the 1980s. Section
''Conductors''
an
''The Czech Philharmonic and the people around it''

Published: September 6, 1995
Review Digest for Performances by Vaclav Neumann on ClassicsToday

Neumann
rehearing Dvořák's cello concerto with the Czech Philharmonic. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Vaclav 1920 births 1995 deaths Musicians from Prague Czech conductors (music) Czech male conductors (music) Czech classical violists Czech male classical violinists People from Prague Prague Conservatory alumni Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 20th-century Czech classical violinists 20th-century Czech male musicians Kapellmeisters of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Chief conductors of the Czech Philharmonic Czechoslovak conductors (music) Czechoslovak violinists