Hans Richter

Hans Richter (1843-1916) was the first conductor to gain international fame. His career began in Budapest, and he went on to dominate music-making in Vienna, Bayreuth, London, Manchester (with the Hallé Orchestra) and other places in Britain and Europe between 1865 and 1912. Richter gave first performances of works by Wagner, Brahms, Elgar, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Stanford and Parry and helped the careers of Dvorák, Sibelius, Bartók and Glazunov. Christopher Fifield's remarkable study explores the personality, life and work of a conductor who influenced and inspired the leading composers, singers and instrumentalists of his day. Originally published in 1993, this revised and expanded edition contains extensive new material in the form of Richter's conducting books. These books, here translated and reproduced in full, detail every one of the 4,351 public performances he gave in his professional life between 1865 and 1912. Drawing on Richter's own diaries, the book also presents his correspondence with many contemporary composers (Wagner in particular) and performers. Fifield's biography of this seminal figure provides a revealing insight into British and European music and concert life during the long nineteenth century. CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD is a conductor, music historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He is the editor and author of the Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier and Max Bruch: His Life and Works, both published in new editions by The Boydell Press.