Keilberth, Joseph
Keilberth, Joseph
Keilberth, Joseph distinguished German conductor; b. Karlsruhe, April 19, 1908; d. while conducting a performance of Tristan und Isolde at the Nationaltheater in Munich, July 20, 1968. He studied in Karlsruhe, where he became a répétiteur (1925), then Generalmusikdirektor (1935–40) at the State Opera. He was chief conductor of the German Phil. Orch. of Prague (1940–45), and then Generalmusikdirektor of the Dresden Staatskapelle (1945–50). He was chief conductor of the Bamberg Sym. Orch. (1949–68), with which he toured Europe in 1951 and the U.S. and Latin America in 1954; was also a conductor at the Bayreuth Festivals (1952–56) and concurrently Generalmusikdirektor of the Hamburg State Phil. Orch. (1950–59); then of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (1959–68). He was particularly esteemed for his performances of works from the Classical and Romantic Austro-German repertoire.
Bibliography
W.-E. von Lewinski, J. K. (Berlin, 1968).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire