Rudolf Moralt

Moralt Rudolf ( born February 26, 1902 in Munich, † December 16, 1958 in Vienna ) was a German conductor, who was known for his interpretations of Mozart at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival.

Life and work

Moralt was a nephew of Richard Strauss. He studied in Munich with Walter Courvoisier and August Schmid- Lindner and was already engaged at the age of 17 years as a coach at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where he worked until 1923 under Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch.

From 1923 to 1928 Moralt was engaged as a conductor in Kaiserslautern, from 1932 to 1934 he was musical director of the opera in Brno. He then worked in Braunschweig and Graz. In 1937, he debuted at the Vienna State Opera, whose chief conductor he was in 1940 and remained until his death.

Moralt is described as a reliable, sensitive and sympathetic conductor, who was responsible for the high quality of the Viennese repertoire performances. In the fierce war and postwar years, he tirelessly took care of the house, the orchestra and the singers. Josef Krips side and Karl Böhm, he conducted the famous Vienna Mozart Ensemble of the postwar years, but could also exemplary performances of Wagner, Strauss and Pfitzner opera work.

At the Salzburg Festival in 1952, he conducted The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro. Moralt guested in several cities in Europe and South America. Among his best records overall recordings include the Ring of the Nibelung, a great Don Giovanni and a much acclaimed Salome. Special attention also heard a recording of the Abduction from the Seraglio with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Konstanze (1945 ) and excerpts from Arabella with Lisa Della Casa in the title role ( 1953).

Swell

• Grove Music Online, Gerhard Brunner, May 2008.