Conductor, Pianist. Legendary performer of the classic-romantic repertoire of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. Regarded by many to be one of the greatest Germans conductors, after studying piano with Wolfgang Ruoff, and composition with Hans Sachsse, Sawallisch perfected his musical technique at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich, where he graduated in 1946. He began his career as a conductor at the opera house in Augsburg in 1947 and was one of youngest directors to conduct the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1953 as well as one of the youngest conductor to work at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1957 when he conducted "Tristan und Isolde". He completed his musical background with Igor Markevic and was resident conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (1960 to 1970) and of the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra (1960 to 1973). Sawallisch was also artistic director of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the lyric institution of which he served as general manager from 1982 to 1993. He soon became known around the world especially for his interpretation of the music of Wagner and Strauss as well as Beethoven, Mozart and Anton Bruckner. In 1963, he was the successor of Riccardo Muti as artistic director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In Italy he was conductor of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome where in 1968 he was a academic member and director of the Filarmonica della Scala in Milano of which he also was honorary member. During a career spanned more than five decades he directed the greatest orchestras in the world including notably, NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In the last years of his life he retired from public life due to health problems. Sawallisch died at his home in Grassau near Munich.