Conductor. New York's premier maestro of the German repertoire in the late 19th Century, he is probably best remembered for leading the world premiere of Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World". Raised in Pest of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1870 until 1872, then took a job at Bayreuth as one of Wagner's secretaries; involved in 1876's initial presentation of the complete "Ring Cycle", he is said to have transcribed the first fair copy of the work. At some point in the late 1870s his abilities impressed Wagner enough to help him obtain his first conducting position at the Leipzig State Theatre; Seidl remained in Leipzig until 1882, joined a traveling company for a time, and from 1883 until 1885 conducted at Bremen. In 1885 he accepted the post of Music Director at New York's Metropolitan Opera, at that point essentially a Germanic theatre. He earned great acclaim from New York audiences, primarily in the Wagnerian repertoire, and in 1886 was to return to Bayreuth to lead highly praised performances of Wagner's "Parsifal". Seidl stayed at the helm of the Metropolitan until departing for the New York Philharmonic in 1891, the same year he took American citizenship. He was to return to the Metropolitan as a guest for the remainder of his life and on December 16, 1893 was to lead the Philharmonic at the Carnegie Hall world premiere of Dvorak's "New World Symphony". Maestro Siedl died of a sudden illness thought to have been food poisoning; articles he wrote on the art of conducting are still studied and today the Wagner Society of New York awards the Anton Seidl Prize in his honor.
Conductor. New York's premier maestro of the German repertoire in the late 19th Century, he is probably best remembered for leading the world premiere of Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World". Raised in Pest of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1870 until 1872, then took a job at Bayreuth as one of Wagner's secretaries; involved in 1876's initial presentation of the complete "Ring Cycle", he is said to have transcribed the first fair copy of the work. At some point in the late 1870s his abilities impressed Wagner enough to help him obtain his first conducting position at the Leipzig State Theatre; Seidl remained in Leipzig until 1882, joined a traveling company for a time, and from 1883 until 1885 conducted at Bremen. In 1885 he accepted the post of Music Director at New York's Metropolitan Opera, at that point essentially a Germanic theatre. He earned great acclaim from New York audiences, primarily in the Wagnerian repertoire, and in 1886 was to return to Bayreuth to lead highly praised performances of Wagner's "Parsifal". Seidl stayed at the helm of the Metropolitan until departing for the New York Philharmonic in 1891, the same year he took American citizenship. He was to return to the Metropolitan as a guest for the remainder of his life and on December 16, 1893 was to lead the Philharmonic at the Carnegie Hall world premiere of Dvorak's "New World Symphony". Maestro Siedl died of a sudden illness thought to have been food poisoning; articles he wrote on the art of conducting are still studied and today the Wagner Society of New York awards the Anton Seidl Prize in his honor.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Seidl memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
