Ackermann, Otto

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Ackermann, Otto

Ackermann, Otto, admired Romanian-born Swiss conductor; b. Bucharest, Oct. 18, 1909; d. Wabern, near Bern, March 9, 1960. After attending the Bucharest Cons. (1920–25), he studied with Prüwer, Szell, and Valeska Burgstaller at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik (1926–28). He was active at the Royal Opera in Bucharest (1925–26) and at the Dusseldorf Opera (1928–32) before becoming chief conductor of the Brno Opera in 1932, and then of the Bern Opera in 1935. After conducting at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna (1947–53), he served as Generalmusikdirektor of the Cologne Opera (1953–58); subsequently conducted at the Zürich Opera. Ackermann distinguished himself as an interpreter of the standard operatic and symphonic repertory. He also had a special affinity for the operettas of the Viennese Strauss family and of Lehár.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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