Abendroth, Hermann

Born Jan. 19, 1883, in Frankfurt am Main; died May 29, 1956, in Jena. German conductor (German Democratic Republic).

Abendroth was a pupil of the German conductor F. Mottl. From 1903 he directed the symphony orchestras of Munich, Lubeck, Essen, and Cologne, and in 1922–23 the symphonic concerts of the Berlin State Opera. From 1934 to 1945 he was head of the pedagogical department at the Imperial Chamber of Music; at the same time he was conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus and taught at the Leipzig Conservatory. After 1945 he was the principal conductor and professor at the Academy of Music in Weimar. From 1949 he directed the symphony orchestra of the Leipzig Radio; from 1953, that of the Berlin Radio. He was a member of the German Academy of Arts.

Abendroth often performed in the USSR—in particular, in 1925 and 1954. His conducting art assimilated the best traditions of German musical culture and was noted for unity of the general artistic conception and for clarity of form. Abendroth was a talented interpreter of the music of Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner. He was awarded the National Prize of the GDR in 1949.