Reznicek, Emil Nikolaus Freiherr von

COMPOSER (AUSTRIAN EMPIRE)
BORN 4 May 1860, Wien - DIED 2 Aug 1945, Berlin
GRAVE LOCATION Stahnsdorf, Brandenburg: Wilmersdorfer Waldfriedhof, Bahnhofstraße 2

Emil von Reznízek was born in Vienna. He studied law as well as music in Graz. He discontinued his law studies, but continued in music. He worked as a conductor at the theatre in Graz and also in Berlin and other cities. From 1886 to 1894 he was the Musical Director of the 88th Infantry in Prague.

On 16/12/1894 his best known work, the opera "Donna Diana" had its premiere at the Deutsches Theater in Prague. In 1902 he settled in Berlin as the Knesebeckstrasse 32, where he lived until his death. For financial reasons he was the chief conductor of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra from 1906 to 1908. He also held that position at the Komische Oper in Berlin. His opera "Blaubart" was finished in 1916 but because of the censorship during the First World War it was first produced in Darmstadt in 1920. His star rose during the Weimar Republic.

When the nazis came to power he had to be careful because his wife Berta was Jewish. His daughter Felicitas worked for the German resistance and later also for the British MI6. He was a friend of Richard Strauss and he joined the Ständigen Rat für internationale Zusammenarbeit der Komponisten to protect his family. His wife died in 1939 and in 1943 Felicitas convinced him to find shelter from the air raids in Berlin by moving to Baden near Vienna.

His health detoriated and shortly after he returned to his house in Berlin in 1945 he died. The Reznicekgasse in Vienna was named after him in 1955.

Related persons
• was inspired by Neumann, Angelo
• was a friend of Strauss, Richard

Images

The grave of Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek at the Wilmersdorfer Waldfriedhof, Stahnsdorf.
Picture by Androom (24 Aug 2013)

 

Sources
Emil von Reznicek - Wikipedia (EN)


Rheinberger, Josef Gabriel

Published: 15 Jul 2017
Last update: 29 Mar 2022