Bruno Walter Timeline
By Erik Ryding
1876
Bayreuth: August 13, 14, 16, 17 — First complete performance of Wagner's
Ring des Niebelungen.
Berlin: September 15 — Birth of Bruno Schlesinger (later Walter) near Alexanderplatz;
son of Joseph Schlesinger (1844–1930) and Johanna Schlesinger, née Fernbach
(1843–1929). Other members of the immediate family were Leo (1873–1952)
and Emma (1878–1949), his brother and sister.
Karlsruhe: November 4 — First performance of Brahms's Symphony No. 1.
1882
Bayreuth: July 26 — First performance of Richard Wagner's Parsifal.
1884
Berlin — At age 8, BW enters the Stern Conservatory, where he is known as "the little Mozart."
1885
Meiningen: October 25 — First performance of Brahms's Symphony No. 4.
1889
Berlin: March 16 — BW plays the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major with the Berlin Philharmonic in a student performance.
1893
Berlin: March 18 — As a student, BW conducts the Berlin Philharmonic (with chorus) in a performance of his own setting of Goethe's Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt.
Cologne: Fall Season — BW assumes position as vocal coach at the opera house in Cologne.
1894
Cologne: March 21 — BW's official debut as opera conductor in Lortzing's Der Waffenschmied.
Hamburg: Fall Season — BW joins Hamburg Opera as chorus director; meets Gustav Mahler.
1896
Hamburg — BW finishes his piece Allerseelen (Hermann von Gilm) for Alto and Orchestra.
Hamburg: February — At the suggestion of Mahler and his sisters, BW decides to change his name from Schlesinger to Walter.
Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland): Fall Season — Assumes position as first conductor at the Breslau Stadttheater.
1897
Breslau: March 23 — Louis Bauer sings BW's song "Vorbei" (attributed to Schlesinger) in a recital.
Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia): Fall Season — BW assumes position as first conductor at the Pressburg Opera House.
1898
Riga: Fall Season — Assumes position as first conductor at the Riga Opera House.
Meets Elsa Korneck (born Else Wirthschaft), a lyric soprano whom he marries
on May 2, 1901, in Berlin.
1900
Berlin: Fall Season — Becomes Royal Prussian Conductor at Berlin Royal
Opera House; colleagues include Richard Strauss and Karl Muck. Develops long-lasting
friendship with Hans Pfitzner, whose opera Der Arme Heinrich is given
its Berlin premiere under BW on December 19, 1900.
1901
Vienna: Fall Season — BW becomes First Conductor, Vienna Hofoper.
Vienna: September 27 — Makes conducting debut at the Hofoper with Aida.
1902
Berlin: February and March — Two volumes of Walter's songs, Opp. 11 and 12, listed as having been published by Dreililien in Berlin.
1903
Vienna: October 4 — Birth of first daughter, Lotte.
Vienna: November 17 — BW's String Quartet premiered by the Rosé Quartet in the Kleiner Musikvereinssaal; receives devastating review from Julius Korngold of the Neue Freie Presse.
December 1 — Walter falls ill during a performance of Tannhäuser and must relinquish the baton to his rival Franz Schalk after the first act.
December 5 — BW writes to Richard Strauss that he is looking for employment in Karlsruhe.
1904
Vienna: March — Finishes Symphonische Phantasie for orchestra, performed in May at the Tonkünstler-Versammlung in Frankfurt.
1905
Vienna: February 20 — BW at the piano joins the Rosé Quartet for the premiere of his Piano Quintet in the Bösendorfer-Saal.
Vienna: Spring — Publishes "Über Kunstverständnis" in the Österreichische Rundschau, sharply criticizing music critics of his day.
1906
Vienna: September 21 — Birth of younger daughter, Gretel.
1907
Vienna: January 8 — BW, Arnold Rosé and Friedrich Buxbaum give premiere of BW's Piano Trio in the Bösendorfer-Saal.
1909
Vienna: February 6 — Premiere performance of BW's Symphony No. 1 by the Konzertverein Orchestra in the Grosser Musikvereinssaal.
London: March 3 — Debut with the Philharmonic Society in Queen's Hall.
Vienna: March 9 — Premiere of BW's Sonata for Piano and Violin, performed by BW and Arnold Rosé in the Bösendorfer-Saal.
1910
London: February 21 — BW makes his Covent Garden debut with Tristan
und Isolde.
Vienna — Universal publishes BW's six Eichendorff Lieder and his Sonata
for Piano and Violin.
Vienna: August 6 — BW finishes first movement of his Second Symphony (never
performed).
1911
Rome: February 12 — BW makes Italian debut conducting the Orchestra of the Society of Santa Cecilia at the Augusteum.
Vienna: May 18 — Death of Gustav Mahler at the age of 50.
Munich: November 20 — BW gives world premiere performance of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde at the Tonhalle with Mme. Charles Cahier and William Miller as soloists. Also on the program is Mahler's Second Symphony.
1912
Vienna: June 26 — BW gives world premiere of Mahler's Ninth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic in the Grosser Musikvereinssaal.
Vienna: October 16 — First performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire (not under BW).
1913
Munich: January 1 — BW assumes title Royal Bavarian Generalmusikdirector. Conducts in three opera houses, gives regular symphonic concerts with the pit orchestra (Musikalische Akademie), and travels often.
Moscow: January 25: BW conducts his first concert in Russia.
Paris: May 29 — Monteux conducts the world premiere of Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps in Paris, precipitating a riot.
Vienna: Mary Komorn-Rebhan publishes her observations on BW's choral conducting, Was wir von Bruno Walter lernten.
1914
Sarajevo: June 28 — Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand leads to the eruption of World War I.
1915
Munich: August 29 — The lyric soprano Delia Reinhardt first appears as a guest with the Munich Opera; she joins the company the following year.
1916
Munich: March 28 — BW gives world premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's double bill Violanta and Der Ring des Polykrates.
1917
Munich: June 12 — BW gives world premiere of Pfitzner's Palestrina.
1918
Munich: November — Socialist revolution in Munich.
1920
Munich: October–November — In commemoration of the 150th anniversary
of Beethoven's birth, BW gives three performances of Beethoven's Missa solemnis
and writes a long essay on the work.
1921
Munich: May 15 — Hermann Esser, one of Hitler's earliest supporters, begins his anti-Semitic attacks on Walter in the organ of the fledgling Nazi Party, the Völkischer Beobachter.
1922
Munich: October 3 — BW conducts Fidelio for his farewell to Munich as Generalmusikdirektor; Hans Knappertsbusch succeeds him.
1923
New York: February 15 — BW's first concert in the USA, with the New York Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall; later conducts in Detroit, Minnesota and Boston.
1925
Salzburg: August 26 — BW conducts Don Pasquale for his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival.
Berlin: September 18 — BW conducts Die Meistersinger for his first performance as Generalmusikdirektor of the newly formed Städtische Oper (Municipal Opera) in Charlottenburg, a district of Berlin.
1926
Milan: June 23 — BW makes his debut at La Scala; while in Milan, he meets Toscanini for the first time.
Berlin: November 6 — Berlin premiere of Puccini's Turandot under BW at the Städtische Oper.
1928
Berlin: February 6 — BW and the Berlin Philharmonic give the first performance of Shostakovich's First Symphony outside Russia, effectively introducing the composer to the West.
1929
Leipzig: October 10 — BW conducts his first concert as Gewandhauskapellmeister, succeeding Wilhelm Furtwängler.
1930
Germany: September — National Socialists become the country's second-largest
party.
1932
New York: January 14 — Conducts New York Philharmonic-Symphony for the first time since the merger between the New York Philharmonic and the New York Symphony Orchestra in 1928.
1933
Germany: January 30 — Hitler named chancellor of Germany.
Leipzig: March 16 — Nazis prevent BW from conducting Gewandhaus Orchestra.
Berlin: March 20 — Nazis prevent BW from conducting Berlin Philharmonic; Richard Strauss reluctantly takes his place at the podium, provoking lifelong resentment in BW. BW leaves Germany.
1934
Salzburg: August 4 — BW conducts the first of his celebrated Don Giovanni performances with Ezio Pinza in the title role.
1935
Vienna: Herbert Reichner Verlag publishes BW's pamphlet Von den moralischen Kräften der Musik (On the Moral Forces of Music), praising music's ability to better humankind and condemning atonal music as unnatural.
1936
Vienna: Herbert Reichner Verlag publishes BW's biography Gustav Mahler.
Vienna: Paul Stefan publishes the first biography of BW.
Vienna: May 24 — BW conducts Kersten Thorborg, Charles Kullman, and the Vienna Philharmonic for world-premiere recording of Das Lied von der Erde (live performance).
Vienna: Fall Season — BW becomes artistic director of the Vienna Staatsoper.
1938
Vienna: January 16 — BW conducts the Vienna Philharmonic for the world-premiere recording of Mahler's Ninth Symphony (live performance).
Vienna: March — The annexation of Austria to Germany makes it impossible for BW to continue to live in Austria.
Amsterdam: March 17 — Despite his avowed antipathy to serial composition, BW gives the world premiere of Ernst Krenek's twelve-tone Second Piano Concerto with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the composer at the keyboard.
Paris: September — France offers BW citizenship, which he accepts.
1939
Zurich: August 18 — Death of younger daughter Gretel, murdered by her husband because of her romantic liaison with Ezio Pinza.
Genoa: November 1 — BW, with Elsa and Lotte, sail for the United States, where he eventually settles.
1940
Beverly Hills and New York — BW and his family settle in Beverly Hills;
his neighbors include various other exiles, including Thomas Mann and his family.
BW develops an especially close relationship with Mann's daughter Erika (1905–69).
1941
New York: February 14 — First performance at the Metropolitan Opera, Fidelio, with Kirsten Flagstad, René Maison and Alexander Kipnis among the principals.
New York: First recordings with the New York Philharmonic.
Oahu, Hawaii: December 7 — Bombing of Pearl Harbor.
1943
New York: November 14 — Leonard Bernstein steps in for the ailing BW and is an overnight sensation.
1945
New York: January 23 — BW conducts the New York Philharmonic for the world-premiere recording of Samuel Barber's First Symphony.
New York: March 26 — Death of Elsa Walter.
1946
New York: Alfred Knopf publishes BW's autobiography, Theme and Variations, in English translation; Bermann-Fischer publishes the original German text in 1947.
New York: April 18 — BW applies for American citizenship.
Gothenburg: September 29 — BW returns to Europe for the first time since his enforced departure in 1939; visits his brother and sister. Also travels to Stockholm, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Zurich and Lugano, giving concerts.
1947
New York: February — Accepts position as musical adviser to the New York Philharmonic, a position he retains for two seasons.
New York: February 10 — BW conducts the New York Philharmonic for the world-premiere recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony.
New York: May — The movie Carnegie Hall plays in New York, with a substantial segment devoted to BW.
Edinburgh: September 9 — Appears at the inaugural Edinburgh Festival and conducts the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time since his expulsion from Austria; begins professional relationship with Kathleen Ferrier.
1949
Hollywood: January — At BW's suggestion, Delia Reinhardt moves from Germany to the USA; she settles in Santa Monica, and through her BW develops a deep interest in anthroposophy.
1950
Berlin: September 24 — Leading the Berlin Philharmonic, BW gives his first concert in Germany
since 1932.
1952
Tokyo: April 9 — Isao Uno (later to become a conductor known as Koho Uno) begins his correspondence with BW.
Vienna: May 15 and 16 — BW's first studio recording of Das Lied von der Erde, with Kathleen Ferrier, Julius Patzak and the Vienna Philharmonic.
1953
London: October 8 — Death of Kathleen Ferrier.
New York: December 30 — BW completes his cycle of the Brahms symphonies with the New York Philharmonic for Columbia Records.
1955
Frankfurt am Main — S. Fischer Verlag publishes BW's essay "Vom Mozart der Zauberflöte" ("On the Mozart of The Magic Flute").
1956
New York: February 23 — BW returns to the Metropolitan Opera to conduct a new production of The Magic Flute (BW's last operatic endeavor) for the bicentennial of Mozart's birth; gives a final performance on March 1, 1957.
1957
New York: March 7 — Suffers a heart attack and cancels concerts planned for the remainder of the year.
Tübingen: Fischer Verlag publishes BW's Von der Musik und vom Musizieren, an English translation of which is published in 1961 by W. W. Norton with the title Of Music and Music-Making.
1958
Los Angeles: January 6 — BW begins to record in stereo with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
1959
New York: March 27 and 29 — Conducts Verdi's Requiem at the Metropolitan Opera; BW's last performances at the Met.
1960
Los Angeles: December 4 — Final public concert, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Van Cliburn.
1961
Los Angeles: March 29 and 31 — Final recording sessions: Mozart overtures with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
Dornach, Switzerland: December 24 — Das Goetheanum publishes BW's last major essay, "Mein Weg zur Anthroposophie."
1962
Beverly Hills: February 17 — After suffering another heart attack, BW is pronounced dead at 5:45 a.m. in his home.
