Christoph von Dohnányi
Christoph von Dohnányi gained renown as one of the world's most versatile conductors in the last decades of the twentieth century and beyond, earning particular distinction for his interpretations of Romantic music and that of the Second Viennese School. The grandson of the well-known Hungarian composer Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960), Dohnányi studied the piano in his youth. Both his personal life and his musical education were disrupted by World War II; his father and his uncle, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were executed by the Nazis for their complicity in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
After the war, Dohnányi studied law at the University of Munich and entered the Munich Musikhochschule in 1948, taking the institution's top prize in composition and conducting within a few years. He traveled to the United States to study music with his grandfather, who had emigrated to Florida in 1949 and was the composer-in-residence at Florida State University in Tallahassee. In a rite of passage for conductors of his generation, Dohnányi also made the pilgrimage to the Tanglewood Music Center to study conducting with Leonard Bernstein.
He returned to Germany and in 1952 assumed posts at the Frankfurt Opera, then under the leadership of Georg Solti. His career continued apace with posts as Generalmusikdirektor in Lübeck (1957-1963) and Kassel (1963-1969), chief conductor of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra (1964-1969), director of the Frankfurt Opera (1968-1977), and Intendent and Principal Conductor of the Hamburg State Opera (1978-1984). Highlights of his career to that point include conducting the world premieres of two of Henze's operas, Der Junge Lord in 1965 and Die Bassariden in 1966. A full schedule of guest engagements included concerts with the great orchestras of Europe and operas at Covent Garden, La Scala, the Metropolitan in New York, and elsewhere.
In 1984 he assumed his most influential post, as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. With that ensemble, Dohnányi produced a diverse, well-received body of recordings ranging from the music of Mozart and Schubert to that of Ives, Varése, and Lutoslawski. He further honed and maintained the orchestra's razor-sharp sense of ensemble and infused its overall sound with a distinctive warmth. He was succeeded as music director by Franz Welser-Möst in 2002.
Dohnányi was principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London from 1997 to 2008. He has received numerous honors, including the commander's Cross of the Republic of Austria, Germany's Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit, and the Bartók Prize of Hungary. In 2004 Dohnányi became chief conductor of the NDR Symphony in Hamburg, a post he held until 2010.
© TiVo
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Dvorák: 16 Slavonic Dances
The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Oct 11, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta / Martinu: Concerto for String Quartet & Orchestra / Janácek: Capriccio
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Mar 1, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ives: Symphonies Nos 1-4; Orchestral Sets Nos.1-2 (2 CDs)
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Symphonies - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jul 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 6 / Schoenberg: 5 Orchesterstücke / Webern: Im Sommerwind
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Dec 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, Richard: The Tone Poems
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph von Dohnányi, Antal Doráti, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: The Four Symphonies
Philharmonia Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Signum Records on Feb 6, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák: Symphony No. 6 / Janácek: Taras Bulba
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on May 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No.9
The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Don Juan; Metamorphosen; Tod und Verklärung
Christoph von Dohnányi, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on May 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56, MWV N 18 "Scottish" & Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Op. 60, MWV D 3
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
Classical - Released by Telarc on Oct 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Oboe Concerto; Bassoon Concerto
Franklin Cohen, John Mack, David McGill, The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on May 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" & Leonore Overture No. 3
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Telarc on May 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schnittke: Concerti Grossi Nos.1 & 5; Quasi una Sonata
Gidon Kremer, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Heinrich Schiff, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Classical - Released by Telarc on Jan 1, 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms Symphony No. 2 & Symphony No. 4
Philharmonia Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Signum Classics on Aug 25, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphonie No.4, "Romantique"
Philharmonia Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Signum Records on May 7, 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Sinfonien Nr.2, Op.61 & Nr.3, Op.97 "Rheinische"
The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on May 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, TH 30 "Pathétique" & Polonaise from Eugen Onegin, Op. 24, TH 5
Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra
Classical - Released by Telarc on Apr 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo