Name Heinrich Schiff Role Cellist | ||
 | ||
Albums Cello Concertos nos. 1, 2, String Quintet Similar People Frank Peter Zimmermann, Christian Tetzlaff, Maxim Shostakovich, Gidon Kremer, Samuel Sanders | ||
Music group Royal Northern Sinfonia | ||
Heinrich schiff schumann cello concerto in a minor op 129
Heinrich Schiff (18 November 1951 – 23 December 2016) was an Austrian cellist and conductor.
Contents
- Heinrich schiff schumann cello concerto in a minor op 129
- Heinrich schiff j s bach solo suite no 3 in c major bwv 1009
- Early life
- Career
- Other
- Death
- References
Heinrich schiff j s bach solo suite no 3 in c major bwv 1009
Early life
Heinrich Schiff was born on 18 November 1951 in Gmunden, Austria. His parents, Helga (nee Riemann) and Helmut Schiff, were composers. He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971. He studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky.
Career
Schiff made his conducting debut in 1986. He was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996, and recorded with them for the Collins Classics label. He also held chief conductorships with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra in Copenhagen, Denmark (1996–2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur (1996-2001).
In 2004, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and served in the post from 2005 to 2008. He stood down from the post in 2008 for health reasons.
Schiff played the "Mara" Stradivarius (1711) and "Sleeping Beauty" made by Montagnana in Venice in 1739. His recording of the Bach Cello Suites won prizes, and his recording of the Shostakovich concertos won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1985. His recording of the Brahms Double Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Sawallisch won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. Composers who have written cello concertos for Schiff include John Casken and Friedrich Cerha.
Among his students were Rudi Spring, Gautier Capuçon, Richard Harwood and Natalie Clein.
Other
Schiff often had pain in his right shoulder and his right arm (the one that leads the bow), obviously by overexertion. On 25 April 2010, during a chamber concert in Vienna, he had to pause during pieces forced by the pain. After this evening, he never played cello again.
Since 2012, the 'Mara' Cello is played by Christian Poltera, one of Schiff's former students.
Death
Schiff died in Vienna on 23 December 2016 at the age of 65.