Hans Swarowsky
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 in 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.
© TiVo
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Menahem Pressler: Chopin
Menahem Pressler, David Josefowitz, Hans Swarowsky, Vienna Opera Orchestra
Classical - Released by Doron Music on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Concerto pour Piano No. 5, Op. 73 "Empereur" (Stereo Version)
Orchestre de l'opéra d'état de Vienne, Hans Swarowsky, Walther Kamper
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major, Hob. VIIe:1 / Overture No. 4 in D Major Hob. Ia:4
Classical - Released by Mezzoforte on 18 Jan 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Ivry Gitlis
Ivry Gitlis, Wiener Symphoniker, Heinrich Hollreiser, Jascha Horenstein, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by Vox Legends on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 – Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26
Ivry Gitlis, Pro Musica Symphony, Vienna, Hans Swarowsky, Jascha Horenstein
Classical - Released by Artemisia on 16 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Humperdinck - Sleeping Beauty - Excerpts From 'Kings Children' - Fantasy On A Theme From 'Hansel And Gretel'
Engelbert Humperdinck, Hans Swarowsky, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Suite du Lac des cygnes (Mono Version)
Wiener Festspielorchester, Hans Swarowsky
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen - Complete
Grosses Symphonieorchster, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov & Liszt: Piano Concertos
Paul Badura-Skoda, London Promenade Orchestra, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, Artur Rodzinski, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by Gramola Records on 17 Mar 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Concertos pour piano Nos. 2 & 5 (Mono Version)
Orazio Frugoni, Hans Swarowsky, Pro Musica Orchester Wien
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Concerto pour violon, Op. 64 - Tchaikovsky: Concerto pour violon, Op. 35 (Mono Version)
Ivry Gitlis, Hans Swarowsky, Heinrich Hollreiser
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Ouvertüre & Vorspiele (Stereo Version)
Bamberger Symphoniker, Heinrich Hollreiser, Hans Swarowsky
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikowsky: Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian" & Symphony No. 3 "Polish"
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by HORTUS on 18 Jan 1991
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, le roi de la valse (Mono Version)
Orchestre de l'opéra d'état de Vienne, Hans Swarowsky
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Humperdinck: Tone Picture from Sleeping Beauty
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by Tuxedo on 7 Sep 1990
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations - Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 & 4 Impromptus
Mieczysław Horszowski, Wiener Symphoniker, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by Vox Legends on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Guillaume Tell, ouverture (Mono Version)
Hans Swarowsky, Wiener Symphoniker
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17 “Little Russian”
Hans Swarowsky, Vienna Philharmusica Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Mezzoforte on 5 Apr 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Schütz: La Nativité
Choeurs de l'Orchestre de Chambre de l'Opéra de Vienne, Terese Stich-Randall, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by ClassicMelody.fr on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 2 'Little Russian' - Symphony No. 3 'Polish'
Hans Swarowsky, Pyotr Illitch Tchaïkovski, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo