Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (6 September 1937 – 18 May 2023) was a German conductor, choirmaster, artistic director, composer, harpsichordist and university lecturer.
After working for the East German Berliner Rundfunk from 1971, he was principal conductor of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Rundfunkchor Leipzig from 1978 to 1985. In 1984 he was awarded the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic, but in 1985 he fell out with the GDR authorities and moved to the FRG.
In Stuttgart, he was appointed General Music Director and helped the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra there to national recognition. In 1991 he went to Essen, where he was also opera director of the Aalto Theater from 1992 to 1997. In the 2000s he returned to the new states of Germany and conducted the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. The latter appointed him its honorary conductor in 2004.
Especially with the Berlin and Leipzig radio sound institutions, he brought numerous contemporary works to the world premieres. He also recorded the complete choral works of Johannes Brahms. In Essen he could realize the complete Ring by Wagner.
Life Greiz origin Hauschild was born in 1937 as sonWolfgang Helfritsch: In achtzig Jahren durch drei Welten – Erinnerungen und Episoden aus einem kurzen Leben. "Wechselnd wolkig und zeitweise heiter". Aus Wetterprognosen der Jahre 1935 und 2015. Ille & Riemer, Leipzig among others. 2015, , ; cf. also "mein Vater war Musikdramaturg" in Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Robert Schuppert: Auftakt. Gespräche mit Dirigenten: Wolf-Dieter Hauschild im Gespräch mit Robert Schuppert. In Theater der Zeit 9/1984, , here . of the journalist and dramaturge Franz Hauschild (1907–1996) in Greiz.Günther Buch: Namen und Daten wichtiger Personen der DDR. 4th revised and extended edition . Dietz, Berlin among others 1987, , . His father was co-founder of the "Greizer Musikwochen" and the "Stavenhagen-Wettbewerb".Henriette Joseph, Haik Thomas Porada (ed.): Das nördliche Vogtland um Greiz. Eine landeskundliche Bestandsaufnahme im Raum Greiz, Weida, Berga, Triebes, Hohenleuben, Elsterberg, Mylau und Netzschkau (Landschaften in Deutschland. Vol. 68). On behalf of the Leibniz Institute for Regional Studies and the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig, Böhlau, Cologne among others; 1996, , . At the age of five, Hauschild received his first piano lessons, later he took up theatre. Looking back he remembered Käthe Reichel, and Dieter Franke with whom he had played in Greiz. He began composing at an early age, among others he wrote a . From the age of fifteen he composed incidental music for the theatre of his home town. As a high school student he also received musical composition lessons from Ottmar Gerster in Leipzig.
Studies and professional beginnings in Weimar At the age of seventeen he began studying music at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar, which he completed in 1959 with three Staatsexamen: Musical composition (Ottmar Gerster), conducting (first with Hermann Abendroth, then Gerhard Pflüger) and piano.Carl Dahlhaus, Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht (ed.): Brockhaus Riemann Musiklexikon. In vier Bänden und einem Ergänzungsband. Supplementary volume: A–Z. 2nd revised and extended edition, Schott, Mainz 1995, . For his final thesis he designed a stage version of Mozart's Singspiel Bastien und Bastienne, which was performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. He completed his training in master classes with Hermann Scherchen and Sergiu Celibidache.Vera Grützner: Musiker in Brandenburg vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart. Jaron, Berlin 2004, , . Until 1956 he was influenced above all by his teacher Hermann Abendroth, whose "overall personality and authority" he greatly appreciated. The latter let him work independently in Weimar with the and lay choir. Furthermore, for Hauschild the conductor and cultural politician Helmut Koch was "an artistic and human father figure.Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Robert Schuppert: Auftakt. Gespräche mit Dirigenten: Wolf-Dieter Hauschild im Gespräch mit Robert Schuppert. In Theater der Zeit 9/1984, , here .
After his studies Hauschild began his artistic career as répétiteur at the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar.Hella Kaden: Hauschild, Wolf-Dieter. In Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (ed.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ, DDR. 1945–1990. Vol. 1: Abendroth–Lyr. Saur, Munich 1996, , . Also here he composed incidental music for plays. Soon he was allowed to conduct and rehearse contemporary works. After two years he was Kapellmeister. In 1963 in Weimar he brought 's operaErnst Krause: Oper von A–Z. Ein Opernführer. 6th edition, Breitkopf und Härtel VEB, Leipzig 1967, . Der fröhliche Sünder of his teacher, Ottmar Gerster, for the world premiere.Aus dem Kulturleben. In Neues Deutschland, 22 February 1963, Jg. 18, edition 53, .
Station in Frankfurt (Oder)
From 1963 to 1970 Hauschild was musical director at the Kleist Theater and permanent conductor of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt. His tasks there extended accordingly to both the musical theater and the concert series. His repertoire included, among others, Verdi, Mozart and Bizet. In 1966 he conducted the Kurt Hübenthal's production of Georg Friedrich Handel's opera Serse. He was also responsible for the world premiere of the symphonic work Schwedter Impulse by Nikolai BadinskiSchwedter Impulse vor Uraufführung. In Neues Deutschland, 22 March 1970, Jg. 25, edition 81, . as well as the GDR premiere of the opera Der zerbrochene Krug by Zbynik VostrakCSSR-Oper erstaufgeführt. In Neues Deutschland, 15 April 1964, Jg. 19, edition 104, . and The Rake's Progress by Stravinsky. Because of its proximity to Berlin, as Hauschild explained, renowned singers such as Reiner Süß could be won for roles. With the politician Erich Mückenberger, Hauschild at the time advocated a new venue, the future .
Engagement by the Berliner Rundfunk In 1971 Hauschild was engaged at the Berliner Rundfunk, where he first conducted the Rundfunkchor Berlin. From 1973 to 1976 he was representative of Heinz Rögner at the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. On the radio he met Helmut Koch again, a "fateful acquaintance", as he would later remember. So he represented him at the world premiere of Fritz Geißler's Oratorium Schöpfer Mensch.Manfred Schubert: Hohes Niveau in den Darbietungen. Eine Betrachtung zu den letzten Sinfoniekonzerten der IV. Musikbiennale in Berlin. In the Berliner Zeitung, 1 March 1973, Jg. 29, edition 60, . Further premieres at the MaerzMusik in Berlin were to follow, among others in 1975 Jürgen Wilbrandt's Mein Haus hat Erde und Meer (speaker )Hans-Peter Müller: Im Zentrum: Gegenwartskunst. Am Wochenende: Sinfonielkonzert und Kammermusik. In the Berliner Zeitung, 18 February 1975, Jg. 31, edition 42, . and Ruth Zechlin's Klavierkonzert (with Eva Ander),: von aggressiver Fröhlichkeit. Klavierkonzert von Ruth Zechlin zur Biennale uraufgeführt. In the Neue Zeit, 20 February 1975, Jg. 31, edition 43, . 1976 Wolfgang Strauß' 4. Sinfonie mit Sopran-Solo (with Renate Frank-Reinecke)Hans-Peter Müller: Junge Interpreten und neue Werke. Eindrücke von den 2. DDR-Musiktagen in unserer Hauptstadt. In the Berliner Zeitung, 24 February 1976, Jg. 32, edition 47, . and Siegfried Matthus' Laudate pacem (with Renate Krahmer, Elisabeth Breul, Annelies Burmeister, Armin Ude and Hermann Christian Polster) and in 1977 Köhler's Der gefesselte Orpheus and Lothar Voigtländer's Canto General (with Brigita Šulcová).Eckart Schwinger: Orpheus und Dichter von heute. Notizen von der VI. Musik-Biennale. In the Neue Zeit, 24 February 1977, Jg. 33, edition 47, .
In 1976 Hauschild succeeded Herbert Kegel as leader of the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie.Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Inge Könau: Junge Leute musizieren mit großer Begeisterung. ND-Gespräch mit Prof. Wolf-Dieter Hauschild. In the Neues Deutschland, 17 March 1982, Jg. 37, edition 64, ; Ehemalige Dirigenten, musikschulen.de, retrieved 14 June 2020. Even after his move to Leipzig, he cultivated the connection to the capital and was a guest conductor at the Deutsche Staatsoper and the Komische Oper Berlin. Thus he took over the musical direction of the Götz Friedrich's production of Verdi's Il trovatore.Hans-Jochen Genzel (Red.): Die Komische Oper. Edited by the Komischen Oper, Nicolai, Berlin 1997, , .
Choral conducting with the RSO and Rundfunkchor Leipzig