Leopold Hager
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Leopold Hager is an Austrian conductor (born October 6, 1935), world-acclaimed for his interpretations of works from the First Viennese School (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert).
Born in Salzburg, he studied Piano, Organ, Harpsichord, Conducting, and Composition at the Salzburg Mozarteum (1949-1957) with Paumgartner, Wimberger, Bresgen, J.N. David, and Kornauth. He was appointed assistant conductor at the Mainz City Theater (1957-1962) and, after conducting the Linz Landestheater (1962-1964), he was appointed first conductor of the Cologne Opera (1964-1965). He then served as Generalmusikdirektor in Freiburg im Breisgau (1965-1969), chief conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra and of the Landestheater in Salzburg (1969-1981). In October 1976 he debuted at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York when conducting Le Nozze di Figaro. He also appeared as a guest conductor with other opera houses as well as orchestras in Europe (Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, etc.) and the USA. In 1981 he became chief conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Radio-Télé-Luxembourg.
Until 2004 he taught Orchestral Conducting at the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, a class which produced in the past such legends as Herbert von Karajan, Zubin Mehta and Claudio Abbado, continuing a direct line of renowned teachers including Clemens Krauss and Hans Swarowsky.
| Preceded by unknown |
Music Director, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg 1969–1981 |
Succeeded by Hans Graf |
