Arthur Nikisch
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Arthur Nikisch (Hungarian: Artúr Nikisch) (October 12, 1855 – January 23, 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed mainly in Germany. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Liszt.
Nikisch was born in Lébényi Szentmiklós, Hungary to a Hungarian father and a mother from Moravia. Nikisch studied under Dessoff, Herbeck, and Hellmesberger at the Vienna Conservatory, where he won prizes for composition and performance on violin and piano. However, he was to achieve most of his fame as a conductor. In 1878 he moved to Leipzig and became second conductor of the Leipzig Opera in 1878 and 1882 promoted as principal conductor. He gave the premiere of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony in 1884.
On 1 July 1885 Nikisch married Amelie Heussner, a singer and actress, who had been engaged the preceding years at the Kassel court theatre (along with Gustav Mahler). In 1899 his son Mitja (d. 1936) was born. He later became a fine pianist.
Later (1889-93) he became conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and from 1893-95 director of the Royal Opera in Budapest. In 1895 he succeeded Carl Reinecke as director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In the same year he became principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and held both positions until his death.
He was a pioneer in several ways. In 1912 he took the London Symphony Orchestra to the United States, a first for a European orchestra. In 1913, he made the first commercial recording of a complete symphony, Beethoven's 5th, with the Berlin Philharmonic.
He died in Leipzig in 1922, and was buried there. Immediately after his death, the square where he had lived was renamed Nikischplatz, and in 1971 the city created the Arthur Nikisch prize for young conductors.
His legacy is as one of the founders of modern conducting, with deep analysis of the score, a simple beat, and a charisma that let him bring out the full sonority of the orchestra and plumb the depths of the music. Nikisch's conducting style was greatly admired by Leopold Stokowski, Arturo Toscanini, Sir Adrian Boult, and Fritz Reiner, among others. Reiner said, "It was [Nikisch] who told me that I should never wave my arms in conducting, and that I should use my eyes to give cues."
[edit] Media
- Arthur Nikisch plays for Welte-Mignon on February 9 1906. Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5*3057 kB
- Arthur Nikisch plays for Welte-Mignon on February 9 1906. Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 6*2423 kB
[edit] Notes
- Hart, Philip. Fritz Reiner: A Biography. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1994. Page 16. ISBN 0-8101-1125-X
| Preceded by Wilhelm Gericke |
Music Director, Boston Symphony Orchestra 1889–1893 |
Succeeded by Emil Paur |
| Preceded by Carl Reinecke |
Principal Conductor, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra 1895–1922 |
Succeeded by Wilhelm Furtwängler |
| Preceded by Richard Strauss |
Music Director, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 1895–1922 |
Succeeded by Wilhelm Furtwängler |
| Preceded by Edward Elgar |
Principal Conductor, London Symphony Orchestra 1912–1914 |
Succeeded by Thomas Beecham |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nikisch, Arthur |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Nikisch, Artúr |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Hungarian conductor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 12, 1855 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lébényi Szent-Miklós, Hunary |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 23, 1922 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Leipzig, Germany |
