Werner Andreas Albert

Werner Andreas Albert (born 10 January 1935, Weinheim) is a German and Australian conductor.

Contents

• Schostakovich concerto op 107 with the cso werner andreas albert rehearsal
• Pfitzner Fantasie op 56 Werner Andreas Albert
• References

He began his studies in musicology and history, and later studying conducting with Herbert von Karajan and Hans Rosbaud. After his 1961 debut with the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra, he became chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. He later served as chief conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon and the Nuremberg Symphony in Germany. He is also the permanent guest conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestras in Cologne, Frankfurt, and Berlin, and of the Bamberg Symphony.

He has enjoyed great success conducting tours to the United States, South America, the Soviet Union, China, and most European countries. In recent years he has conducted in Beijing, and at Triphony Hall and Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Tokyo City Symphony Orchestra. Since 1981, Albert has regularly conducted in Australia, particularly with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, of which he was named principal conductor in 1995, and he has conducted all six Symphony Australia orchestras. He has been chief conductor of the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra for more than 20 years and is also senior lecturer of the Meistersinger Conservatorium in Nuremberg.

He has made over 600 recordings for the Cologne, Bavarian and Northwest German Radio Networks. After recording all of the vast standard repertoire, he began to champion new composers and to research works that had never been recorded. In the process he earned the distinction of the most recorded artist in Germany. He has recorded the complete orchestral repertoire of Paul Hindemith, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Hans Pfitzner, and Benjamin Frankel. He has embarked on an extensive new project involving the operatic and symphonic music of Siegfried Wagner, son of Richard Wagner, featuring recordings as well as live performances.

In addition to his commitment to conducting and recording, Werner Andreas Albert has had a keen interest in the training of young conductors and musicians. He directed the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Conducting Workshop for many years, as well as teaching selected Masters’ students at the University of Queensland, of which institution he is an adjunct professor. He has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Southern Sinfonia since 2007.

Werner Andreas Albert has been recognized by both the German Federal and Bavarian State Governments for his dedication to music. He holds the title of member of the German Federal Cross of Merit, Erste Klasse (the German equivalent of the British Order of Merit), as well as the Bavarian Order of Merit), which is limited to a restricted number of living members.

He became an Australian citizen in the late 1990s.