Tietjen, Heinz (1881-1967)

Tietjen, Heinz

CONDUCTOR, DIRECTOR, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR (GERMANY)

BORN 24 Jun 1881, Tanger, Tanger-Tetouan - DIED 30 Nov 1967, Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg
BIRTH NAME Vivian, Heinrich
GRAVE LOCATION Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg: Stadtfriedhof

Heinz Tietjen was a pupil of Arthur Nikisch. When he was 23 he became producer at the opera house in Trier and in 1907 he became its director (until 1922). In Trier he married the opera singer Johanna Steyer (1886-1971) in 1908. From 1919 until 1922 he was also the director of the operas of Saarbrücken and Breslau.

In 1925 he became the director of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (until 1927) and subsequently of the Prussian State Theatre. Although the nazis initially didn't trust him, Hermann Göring asked him as early as 1932 if he would be willing to keep his position in Berlin. After the nazis came to power he fired many people, among them the communist Hans Otto.

In 1931 Winnifred-Wagner appointed him artistic director in Bayreuth. From 1934 to 1944 they directed the festival together and there was also a romantic relationship between them. From 1933 to 1941 he conducted at the Bayreuth Festival as well. After the war he scolded the Wagners, but in later years he was in contact with Winnifred again. In 1945 the Soviet commander Nikolai Bersarin appointed him general director of the theatres in Berlin, but after he was denounced by the conductor Leo Borchard he lost his position.

In 1946 he married his second wife Lieselotte Michaelis (1911-2015) who had been a dancer at the State Opera in Berlin. Tietjen had to undergo a denazification trial, but in 1947 it was decided that he was innocent. Although he had an 'opportunistic attitude', it was concluded that he also had taken part in the resistance against the nazis. From 1948 to 1954 he was the director of the Städtischen Oper Berlin and from 1956 until 1959 he directed the Staatsoper in Hamburg where his production of Wagner's "Ring" was very successful. In 1959 he appeared once more at the Bayreuth Festival as a conductor and in the same year he retired. After his death in 1967 in Baden-Baden Lieselotte continued to live there and after her death in 2015 she was buried in his grave.

Related persons
• corresponded with Derra de Moroda, Friderica
• was pupil of Nikisch, Arthur
• has a connection with Otto, Hans
• cooperated with Preetorius, Emil
• cooperated with Wagner-Williams, Winnifred

Images

The grave of Heinz Tietjen at the Stadtfriedhof, Baden-Baden.
Picture by Androom (31 Aug 2008)