Hans Rosbaud
Hans Rosbaud was one of the best known conductors in Europe, particularly for his pioneering performances of twentieth century music.
He studied at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where his piano instructor was Alfred Hoehn and his composition instructor Bernhard Sekles. He chose an academic career, becoming director of the State Music School (Städtische Musikschule) in Mainz. There he also frequently conducted the Municipal Orchestra. During his first year there he conducted music by Paul Hindemith, then one of the most rapidly rising young stars in the German music, and a teacher of his for three years, and scheduled other new music.
In 1928 he took the position of Musical Director of Frankfurt Radio, a position he held until 1938; simultaneously he was First Kapellmeister of Frankfurt's Museumgesellschaft concerts. In both positions he made Frankfurt one of the most exciting venues for new music. He frequently scheduled music of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Bartók, Stravinsky, and others. He presented the premiere performances of Schoenberg's Four Songs with Orchestra, Op. 22 (1932),and Bartók's Second Piano Concerto with the composer as soloist (1932). Nazi rule forced him to curtail performances of Jewish composers and those labeled as "cultural Bolsheviks" after 1933. He also shifted to less prominent positions as Generalmusikdirektor in Münster (1937-1941) and in Strasbourg (1941-1944). After the war, he again returned to conducting in a major city, as Principal Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (1945 - 1948).
But his preference was for radio, where he could schedule more innovative concerts and reach a wide audience with modern music. Therefore in 1948 he accepted the position as Chief Conductor of the South-West German Radio Orchestra in Baden-Baden. German radio was based on strong regional companies whose programs were also carried elsewhere in the country. Baden-Baden, with a history as one of the most liberal corners of German and a strong interest in arts, was ideal for Rosbaud's purposes. Furthermore, the identification by the Nazis of their opposition to certain kinds of music gave that music a strong prestige and support among, particularly among the younger audience. These factors, and a sense of a need to learn about music currents that had passed Germany by when Hitler and Goebbels transformed the country into a cultural backwater, combined to create a strong audience for Rosbaud's programming.
He made the provincial orchestra into a strong and precise ensemble, with a lean, anti-Romantic sound. Success on radio led immediately to demand for phonograph recordings. He participated in the first Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1948 and remained associated with it, often appeared in the Donaueschingen Festival, Europe's primary avant-garde music festival (where he supported the music of Boulez, Stockhausen, and their circle), and performed regularly at the annual festivals of the International Society for Contemporary Music. He gave the first performances (concert and staged) of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron. In 1957 he added the position of Music Director of the Zurich Tönhalle Orchestra.
His performances were highly objective, clear, and intellectual, frequently seeming now to lack warmth.
© TiVo
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Mahler: Orchestral Works
Hans Rosbaud, Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Eva-Maria Rogner, Ernst Haefliger, Grace Hoffman
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 11 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 2-9
Südwestfunk-Orchester Baden-Baden, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 13 Oct 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cosi fan tutte
Classical - Released by INA Mémoire vive on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice, Tragic Opera in three acts
Hans Rosbaud, Orchestre Lamoureux, Léopold Simoneau
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 5 Jan 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
French Music (Remastered 2022)
Hans Rosbaud, Sudwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden, Monique Haas
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 12 Aug 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 6 Jan 2017
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rosbaud conducts Haydn
Symphonic Music - Released by SWR Classic on 9 Mar 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Symphonies I, IV, Concertos (Violin,Cello,Piano)
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Pierre Fournier, Henryk Szeryng, Annie Fischer, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 11 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Orchestral Works
Hans Rosbaud, Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks, Ginette Neveu, Trio Di Trieste, Geza Anda
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 15 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro & Così fan tutte (Live at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 1956 & 1957)
Hans Rosbaud, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Opera - Released by Classica on 23 Jun 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Orchestral Works (Remastered 2021)
Hans Rosbaud, Sudwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden, Kim Borg
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 8 Oct 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Strauss: Piano Concertos (Live)
Friedrich Gulda, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Joseph Keilberth, Hans Müller-Kray, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 14 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Finlandia; Karelia Suite; Tapiola; Valse triste
Berliner Philharmoniker, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 (Mono Version)
Walter Gieseking, Hans Rosbaud, Philharmonia Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (1956), Volume 1
Orchestre Lamoureux, Hans Rosbaud, Léopold Simoneau
Classical - Released by Classical Moments on 30 Apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (1956), Volume 2
Orchestre Lamoureux, Hans Rosbaud, Léopold Simoneau
Classical - Released by Classical Moments on 30 Apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Rosbaud - The Complete Recordings on DGG
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Hans Rosbaud, Kölner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on 4 Feb 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gustav Mahler: Sinfonie Nr. 7
Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by wergo on 1 Feb 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, W.A.: Violin Concerto No.4 / Haydn, J.: Symphonies Nos. 92 "Oxford" & 104 "London"
Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Giovanni (Intégrale)
Full Operas - Released by INA Mémoire vive on 19 Jul 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo