Karl Böhm
His career as a conductor
| Born in Graz, Karl Böhm went on to make musical history. The father of the internationally acclaimed actor Karl-Heinz Böhm worked with the world’s best orchestras, yet never broke his ties with his home town.
1894 Karl Böhm is born in Graz
1917-1921 After studying law and music in Graz and Vienna, Böhm makes his debut as a conductor in his home town of Graz.
1921-1927 The young conductor is hired by the Munich Opera.
1927-1933 Böhm accepts a post in Darmstadt, where he works for four years as general director of music before moving to Hamburg.
1933-1942 Böhm makes his conducting debut in the Vienna State Opera. In the same year, he is appointed as the director of the Dresden State Opera, where he remains for nine years.
1943-1981 Having achieved international recognition, the Styrian-born conductor—who works as the director of the Vienna State Opera for a total of four years—makes appearances at the world’s most famous opera houses and festivals. His favourite festivals are those in Bayreuth and especially Salzburg.
1981 Karl Böhm dies at the age of 81 during rehearsals for the Salzburg festival.
Karl Böhm (*28.08.1890 +14.08.1981)
| The world-famous conductor and father of Karl-Heinz Böhm (known for his roles in the „Sissi“ films and for his work as founder of the humanitarian organisation „People for People“) was born in 1890 in the Styrian capital, Graz, where he also grew up. A lawyer’s son, he began to show an interest in music early in life, but initially decided to study law. Even before his graduation, he began additional studies in music, first at the Graz Conservatory and later at the Vienna Conservatory. His teacher there was Eusebius Mandyczewski, a friend of Johannes Brahms.
First engagements
Karl Böhm, doctor of Law, finally made his debut as a conductor at the age of 27 in his home town, where he had been hired as a coach at the Opera House four years earlier and where he finally became director of music. In 1921 his career took him to Munich, where Bruno Walter was waiting to welcome him with an engagement at the Munich Opera.
Deep friendship
Six years later he became general musical director in Darmstadt and, in 1931, in Hamburg. In 1933, the Graz-born musician conducted for the first time in the Vienna State Opera (Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”). In the same year he became the director of the Dresden State Opera. There Böhm met Richard Strauss and conducted the premieres of this composer’s operas “Die schweigsame Frau” and “Daphne”. The long-lasting acquaintance of the two musicians was not confined to their professional lives: they became friends on a personal level too.
Great successes
After leaving Dresden in 1942, Böhm returned to Vienna, where he ran the State Opera between 1943 and 1945 and between 1954 and 1956. In 1957, he conducted the Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera in New York for the first time. In between times he repeatedly worked with the most prominent international orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic. Additionally, he frequently conducted at festivals such as those in Salzburg and Bayreuth.
Lasting memories
Despite his advanced years, Karl Böhm could never bear to give up music. And so he died, on 14 August 1981, at the age of 91, during rehearsals for “Electra” in Salzburg. The composers Karl Böhm valued most highly throughout his life included Mozart and Wagner and, of course, Richard Strauss. His devotion to music, his sensitivity, and his strictness made the Graz-born musician one of the world’s best conductors whose work is a long way from falling into oblivion.