It’s supposed to be a happy, visually stunning evening at the Munich National Theater, but it suddenly ends tragically shortly after it begins – with the death of the conductor.
Tragedy in the Munich National Theater: The conductor Stefan Soltesz collapsed during a performance and then died. With horror and great sadness, the Bavarian State Opera announced the death of the 73-year-old, said the spokesman for the house, Michael Wuerges. He did not want to give any information about the cause of death.
The incident happened on Friday evening while Soltesz was conducting the comic opera The Silent Woman. Shortly before the end of the first act, the conductor suddenly collapses. “He was then immediately treated by the audience and the theater doctor,” Wuerges describes the stirring scenes in the packed orchestra pit on Saturday. The rescue service is called, but there is no more help for the 73-year-old. Soltesz dies in hospital that same evening.
The music world reacted in dismay. “The news of the collapse and death of Stefan Soltesz makes me deeply sad,” says opera director Serge Dorny in Munich. “We are losing a gifted conductor. I am losing a good friend. My thoughts are with his wife Michaela.”
Tweet from the Bavarian State Opera
“When great artists die, sometimes not only a life but also an era irrevocably comes to an end,” writes the Deutsche Oper Berlin on Soltesz’s death, which marks such a point. The 73-year-old was probably the last representative of the Austro-Hungarian Kapellmeister tradition, which had a lasting influence on the conducting profession in the 20th century. He found the right tone for all works in a stylish manner.
Soltesz’s conducting was considered thrilling, he wasn’t interested in quick fame. The Bavarian State Opera honors the exceptional musician as “a craftsman at the head of an orchestra, a guarantee of respect” – for the composer, but also for the musicians of the orchestra and the singers on stage. “He was an extraordinarily sensitive conductor, making the scores crystal clear and appreciating the music’s intimacy.” This earned him the respect of all the musicians in the orchestras he conducted.
“We are losing a conductor to whom we owe countless musical moments of glory,” commented Dagmar Schlingmann, general director at the Braunschweig State Theater, on the death of the 73-year-old. “His performances, which I was allowed to experience, are unforgettable. A true master,” said the General Music Director of the Braunschweig State Orchestra, Srba Dinić.
Merle Fahrholz, director of the Aalto Music Theater and the Essen Philharmonic from the coming 2022/2023 season, says: “The high level with which the orchestra regularly inspires our audience is not least due to the many years of work of my predecessor.”
Born in Hungary
Born in Hungary on January 6, 1949, Soltesz studied conducting, composition and piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, according to the Bavarian State Opera. After positions as conductor in Vienna and Graz and as musical assistant to Karl Böhm, Christoph von Dohnányi and Herbert von Karajan at the Salzburg Festival, he became conductor of the Hamburg State Opera and general music director at the Braunschweig State Theater. Between 1985 and 1997 he conducted more than 350 performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin alone.
From 1992 to 1997 he was chief conductor of the Flemish Opera in Antwerp/Gent, from 1997 to 2013 general music director of the Essen Philharmonic and artistic director of the Aalto Music Theater. Soltesz, who has an Austrian passport, is also a guest conductor at all major German opera houses. According to the Bavarian State Opera, his talent has taken him to Vienna, Paris, Rome, Budapest, Warsaw, Amsterdam and London.
demolition of the performance
In Munich he made his debut at the Bavarian State Opera in 1995 with the opera “The Barber of Seville” by Gioacchino Rossini. In addition, he conducts “La Bohème”, “The Flying Dutchman”, “Arabella” and much more in the Bavarian state capital. The colorful piece “The Silent Woman” by Richard Strauss, an opera rarity, was to be performed for the last time at the National Theater on Friday evening.
“Shortly before the end of the first act, Mr. Soltesz collapsed in the ditch,” reports Wuerges the day after. The hall, in which almost 2,000 people were sitting and actually seeing the cheerful opera, had been cleared. “And after the break, the performance was finally stopped.” That was around 8.20 p.m., the performance had started at 7.05 p.m. “We were almost sold out.”
“The Bavarian State Orchestra held a minute’s silence before the rehearsal today,” says Wuerges a few hours after Soltesz’s death. “The next two performances “Capriccio” and “Der Rosenkavalier” will be dedicated to Herr Soltesz.” (dpa)