Hermann Levi, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Hermann Levi

German musician

Date of Birth: 07-Nov-1839

Place of Birth: Gießen, Hesse, Germany

Date of Death: 13-May-1900

Profession: composer, conductor, pianist

Nationality: Germany

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio


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About Hermann Levi

  • Hermann Levi (7 November 1839 – 13 May 1900) was a German Jewish orchestral conductor. Levi was born in Giessen, Germany, the son of a rabbi.
  • He was educated at Giessen and Mannheim, and came to Vinzenz Lachner's notice.
  • From 1855 to 1858 Levi studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, and after a series of travels which took him to Paris, he obtained his first post as music director at Saarbrücken, which post he exchanged for that at Mannheim in 1861.
  • From 1862 to 1864 he was chief conductor of the German Opera in Rotterdam, then till 1872 at Karlsruhe, when he went to Munich, a post he held until 1896, when ill-health compelled him to resign.
  • Levi also taught at the Leipzig Conservatory, where his pupils included the conductor Emil Steinbach. Levi's name is indissolubly connected with the increased public appreciation of Wagner's music.
  • He was a longtime friend of Wagner; when preparing for the inaugural Bayreuth Festival, he wrote to his father, "Wagner is the best and noblest of men ...
  • I thank God daily for the privilege to be close to such a man.
  • It is the most beautiful experience of my life".
  • He conducted the first performance of Parsifal at Bayreuth in 1882, even though Wagner initially objected to this and was quoted as saying that Levi should be baptized before conducting it.
  • However, Ludwig II of Bavaria, who was Wagner's patron, told him in a letter that “Nothing is more repugnant, nothing less edifying than such squabbles; people after all are brothers, in spite of all denomonational differences.” Levi was connected with the musical life at Bayreuth during the remainder of his career.
  • He visited London in 1895, and died in Munich in 1900.
  • He was interred in a Mausoleum in the grounds of his villa later that year in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. During his early years, Levi also worked as a composer.
  • His first opus number was a piano concerto published in Paris, besides which he also wrote a violin sonata.

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