Born: September 16, 1899; Budapest, Hungary
Died: September 10, 1975; Salzburg, Austria
Known as widely for his teaching as for his orchestral direction, Hans Swarowsky had much to share with a younger generation of musicians. He studied composition and conducting with several of the twentieth century's greatest icons, absorbing and exercising what he had learned in a respected career as a conductor. Despite an uneven cast, his recording of Wagner's Ring cycle, taped in Prague, has considerable power and poetry.
Born inRead more Hungary, Swarowsky studied in Vienna with composers Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern and trained in conducting with Felix Weingartner, Richard Strauss, and Clemens Krauss. His engagements subsequently took him to many parts of Europe, first to Stuttgart and Hamburg, later to Berlin (1934), Zürich (1937-1940), and Krakow (1944-1946).
Following several harrowing experiences in flight from the Nazis, Swarowsky found his career stabilized once more in the postwar period with an engagement at Graz from 1947-1950. During this time and in subsequent assignments at the Wiener Staatsoper, Swarowsky was recognized as a conductor with a long measure of technical expertise. Thus, his classes at Vienna's Academy of Music and the Performing Arts, where he had been professor of conducting since 1946, drew a remarkable pool of aspiring young musicians. Among them were Claudio Abbado, Jesús López-Cobos, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and Bruno Weil, later to be among the most prominent of their generation. Vienna's Hans Swarowsky International Conductors' Competition has attracted musicians from all parts of the globe, becoming in the process one of the world's most important clearing houses for rising talent.
From 1957 to 1959, Swarowsky served as chief conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra. In 1959, he was appointed chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra; together with his service to that ensemble, he continued to appear with the Wiener Staatsoper.
In addition to performing compositions from the Classical and Romantic periods, Swarowsky served his own age with diligence. Aside from Strauss and Webern, composers such as Britten, Einem, Hindemith, Pfitzner, and Stravinsky figured prominently in the conductor's programming. Among his recordings for Concert Hall, Erato, Nonesuch, Vanguard, Vox, and Weltbild, he committed to disc an especially delightful set of orchestral suites from Humperdinck operas. Read less
Label: Gift Of Music
Catalog: 956599
Release Date: 08/02/2011
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Johannes Brahms,
Franz Joseph Haydn
...
Performer:
Martin Souter,
Aldo Baldin,
Krisztina Láki,
Christof Roos
...
Conductor:
Wilhe Bruckner-Ruggeberg,
Don Jackson,
Hans Swarowsky,
Frieder Bernius
...
Label: Tahra
Catalog: 704
Release Date: 08/10/2010
Number of Discs: 4
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Friedrich Wuhrer,
Joseph Schuster,
Bronislaw Gimpel
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Walther Davisson,
Jonel Perlea,
Heinrich Hollreiser
Recommendation
Label: Zyx Records
Catalog: 10316
Release Date: 07/22/2008
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Johann Christian Bach
Performer:
Franz Lehrndorfer,
Miklós Spányi,
Hans-Christoph Becker-Foss,
Christiane Jaccottet
...
Conductor:
Eugen Duvier,
Henry Adolph,
Hans Swarowsky,
Francesco Macci
...
Label: Brana Records
Catalog: 16
Release Date: 01/30/2007
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Friedrich Kuhlau,
Robert Schumann,
Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer:
Felicja Blumental
Conductor:
Theodor Guschlbauer,
Hans Swarowsky,
Luigi Toffolo
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra,
Vienna Pro Musica Orchestra,
Trieste Philharmonic
Label: Brana Records
Catalog: 15
Release Date: 05/30/2006
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Franz Liszt,
Gabriel Fauré,
Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Felicja Blumental
Conductor:
Helmuth Froschauer,
Rudolf Schwarz,
Hans Swarowsky
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Prague Symphony Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Vienna Pro Musica Orchestra
Label: Preiser Records
Catalog: 90690
Release Date: 04/25/2006
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Ludwig Weber,
Emmy Loose,
Wilhelm Tisch,
Wilma Lipp
...
Conductor:
Felix Prohaska,
Josef Krips,
Alexander Krannhals,
Herbert von Karajan
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Orchestra,
Berlin State Opera Orchestra
...
Label: Preiser Records
Catalog: 90675
Release Date: 11/29/2005
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Carl Maria von Weber,
Richard Wagner
...
Performer:
Maria Reining,
Sena Jurinac,
Irmgard Seefried,
Erich Kunz
...
Conductor:
Josef Krips,
Herbert von Karajan,
Otto Ackermann,
Hans Swarowsky
...
Label: Vanguard
Catalog: 1270
Release Date: 03/09/2004
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Albert Linder,
André Lardrot,
Josef Suk,
Thomas Kakuska
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Felix Prohaska,
Josef Suk
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna State Opera Orchestra,
Suk Chamber Orchestra
Label: Vanguard
Catalog: 1185
Release Date: 08/12/2003
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Denis Matthews,
Friedrich Gulda,
Alfred Brendel
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Paul Angerer,
Antonio Janigro
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna State Opera Orchestra,
Friedrich Gulda Orchestra,
I Solisti di Zagreb
Label: Vox Allegretto
Catalog: 8219
Release Date: 04/30/2002
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Camille Saint-Saëns,
Benjamin Britten,
Sergei Prokofiev
Performer:
Marylčne Dosse,
Annie Petit,
Brandon De Wilde
Conductor:
Jörg Faerber,
Hans Swarowsky,
Louis de Froment
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Württemberg Chamber Orchestra,
Vienna Pro Musica Orchestra,
Luxembourg Radio/Television Symphony Orchestra
Label: Preiser Records
Catalog: 90428
Release Date: 12/19/2000
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Traditional,
Taras Shevchenko,
M. Voloshyn,
Mykola Lysenko
...
Performer:
Ira Malaniuk,
N. Kupdehraben
Conductor:
Andriy Hnatyszyn,
Hans Swarowsky
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestra,
Saint Barbara Church Choir of Vienna,
Vienna Volksoper Orchestra
Label: Preiser Records
Catalog: 90429
Release Date: 11/28/2000
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Ruggero Leoncavallo,
Giacomo Puccini,
Pietro Mascagni,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
...
Performer:
Daniza Ilitsch
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Max Rudolf
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna State Opera Orchestra,
Metropolitan Orchestra
Label: Tuxedo Music
Catalog: 1008
Release Date: 04/15/2000
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Valeria Walewska
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Erich Langer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna State Opera Orchestra,
Vienna Symphony Chamber Orchestra
Label: Columbia River Entertainment
Catalog: 1061
Release Date: 03/31/1999
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johann Strauss Jr.,
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
David Oistrakh
Conductor:
Václáv Smetácek,
Hans Swarowsky,
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Prague Symphony Orchestra,
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,
London Symphony Orchestra
Label: Tuxedo Music
Catalog: 1072
Release Date: 11/01/1998
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Franz Joseph Haydn
Performer:
Adolf Holler,
Gaspar Cassadó
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Jonel Perlea
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna State Opera Orchestra,
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
Label: Tuxedo Music
Catalog: 1045
Release Date: 11/01/1998
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Robert Schumann,
Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
Felicja Blumental
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Michael Gielen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Pro Musica Orchestra,
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Label: Preiser Records
Catalog: 89138
Release Date: 01/21/1997
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Gioachino Rossini,
Robert Stolz,
Eduardo Di Capua,
Buday,
...
Performer:
Jan Kiepura,
Lotte Lehmann
Conductor:
Frieder Weissmann,
Robert Stolz,
Hans Swarowsky,
Werner Schmidt-Bölke
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Odeon-Künstler Orchestra,
Original-Tonfilm Orchestra,
Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra
...
Label: Intercord Klassische Diskothek
Catalog: 25924
Release Date: 05/23/1995
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Mark Kaplan,
David Geringas,
Dieter Goldmann
Conductor:
Michael Gielen,
Hans Swarowsky,
Alfred Scholz
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra,
South German Philharmonic Orchestra,
Munich Symphony Orchestra
Label: Zyx Records
Catalog: 4001
Release Date: 02/21/1995
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Christiane Jaccottet,
Alberto Tozzi,
Tomaso Vecchi
Conductor:
Hans Swarowsky,
Francesco Macci
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Hyacinthe Eléonore Klosé