Heinrich Schiff (18 November 1951 – 23 December 2016) was an Austrian

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...

and conductor.

Early life

Heinrich Schiff was born on 18 November 1951 in Gmunden, Austria. His parents, Helga (née Riemann) and Helmut Schiff, were composers. He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and

André Navarra André-Nicolas Navarra (Biarritz, 13 October 1911 – Siena, 31 July 1988) was a French cellist and cello teacher. Early life He was born into a musical family in Biarritz, his father being a bassist of Italian descent."'Play From The Stomach, ...

and made his solo debut 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 ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1971. He studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky.

Career

Schiff made his conducting debut in 1986. He was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996, and recorded with them for the

Collins Classics Collins Classics is a record label which specialises in classical music. It was founded in 1989 as a musical subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers and distributed through Pinnacle Entertainment (United Kingdom). Artists who recorded for ...

label. He also held chief conductorships with the

Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra The Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra (Danish: Sjællands Symfoniorkester), also known as the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, is a Danish symphony orchestra which both serves as Danish Regional Orchestra for the region of Zealand and, for the summer se ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Denmark (1996–2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur (1996-2001). In 2004, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, ...

and served in the post from 2005 to 2008. He stood down from the post in 2008 for health reasons. Schiff played the "Mara" Stradivarius (1711) and "Sleeping Beauty" made by

Montagnana Montagnana is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Padova, in Veneto (northern Italy). Neighbouring communes are Borgo Veneto, Casale di Scodosia, Urbana, Bevilacqua, Pojana Maggiore Pojana Maggiore is a town and '' comune'' in the pro ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1739.Griffiths, Bill, ''Northern Sinfonia''. Northumbria University Press, p. 21 (). His recording of the Bach

Cello Suites The six Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012, are suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). They are some of the most frequently performed solo compositions ever written for cello. Bach most likely composed them during the ...

won prizes, and his recording of the Shostakovich concertos won the

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

in 1985. His recording of the Brahms

Double Concerto A double concerto (Italian: ''Doppio concerto''; German: ''Doppelkonzert'') is a concerto featuring two performers—as opposed to the usual single performer, in the solo role. The two performers' instruments may be of the same type, as in Bach's ...

with Frank Peter Zimmermann and

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 ...

won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. Composers who have written cello concertos for Schiff include John Casken and Friedrich Gulda. Among his students were Rudi Spring, Gautier Capuçon,

Richard Harwood :''Richard Harwood is also the assumed name of National Front member Richard Verrall.'' Richard Craig Harwood (born 8 August 1979) is a British cellist. Biography Richard Harwood was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire and began learning to p ...

and Natalie Clein.

Other

Schiff frequently experienced pain in his right shoulder and arm, the one that holds the bow, presumably caused by overexertion, but tried to ignore it. While playing in a chamber concert in Vienna on 25 April 2010 he had to take breaks during pieces due to the pain. After this evening, he never played cello in public again. Since 2012, the 'Mara' Cello has been played by Christian Poltéra, one of Schiff's former students. zeit.de 7 May 2015 / Carolin Pirich
''Oh, Mara!''
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Death

Schiff died in Vienna on 23 December 2016 at the age of 65.

References

External links