Stiedry, Fritz

Born Oct. 11, 1883, in Vienna; died Aug. 9, 1968, in Zürich. Austrian conductor.

Stiedry studied music at the Vienna Conservatory and received further training in the opera theaters of Vienna and Dresden as an assistant conductor to G. Mahler and E. von Schuch. Until 1923 he conducted the Berlin Opera. He led the Vienna Volks-oper in 1924 and 1925 and the Berlin Municipal Opera from 1929 to 1933; he also undertook several European tours.

After the fascists came to power, Stiedry left Germany and served as principal conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic from 1933 to 1937. In 1938 he took up residence in the USA, where he founded and conducted the New Friends of Music Orchestra. In 1946 he was engaged as a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. He spent the last years of his life in Switzerland.

Stiedry combined an impetuous performance style with a logical approach to the music and a sense of form. These qualities made him an outstanding interpreter of the Viennese classical school and the romantics, notably W. A. Mozart, J. Haydn, L. van Beethoven, J. Brahms, and G. Mahler. He was also known for his performances of the operas of G. Verdi and R. Wagner. Stiedry conducted the premiere of D. D. Shostako vich’s First Piano Concerto.