One of the leading conductors of our time, Christoph von Dohnanyi was born
in Berlin in 1929 and studied law in Munich after the war, later deciding
to devote himself exclusively to music. His most important teacher was his
grandfather, the composer Ernst von Dohnanyi, with whom he studied at the
University of Florida. Dohnanyi also took conducting courses in Tanglewood.
His career began when Georg Solti called him to the Frankfurt Opera in
1953, where he was choral conductor and later orchestral conductor. He then
took posts in various German cities before serving as principal conductor
and general manager of the Hamburg State Opera from 1978 to 1984. In 1984
he succeeded Lorin Maazel as permanent conductor of the Cleveland
Orchestra.
It is rare to find a conductor of Dohnanyi's eminence who devotes such a
great deal of time and energy to contemporary music. He has led the world
premieres of Hans Werner Henze's operas "Der junge Lord" and "Die
Bassariden," Gottfried von Einem's "Kabale und Liebe" and Friedrich Cerha's
"Baal," along with a number of orchestral works. One of the highlights of
Unitel's recordings of 20th-century works is Gustav Rudolf Sellner's Berlin
production of Henze's "Der junge Lord" with several members of the world
premiere, including Edith Mathis, Donald Grobe and Loren Driscoll. Also
available are recordings of Richard Strauss's "Burleske," Béla Bartók's
"The Miraculous Mandarin" and Mendelssohn's "Symphony No. 3," the
"Scottish" - all three of which were recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic
in 1977 at Vienna's Musikvereinssaal.
