Kurt Peter Eichhorn

Although he is remembered mainly as an opera conductor thanks to his several recordings, Kurt Eichhorn led a quite varied career as a conductor in Germany. He studied with Hermann Zilcher at the Würtzburg Conservatory, and then worked his way up through the ranks of provincial houses. He made his professional debut as an orchestral and choral conductor in Bielefeld in 1932. Hitler's annexation of the Sudentenland brought Eichhorn career opportunities in what is now Teplice (1939) and Karlovy Vary (1941-1943). He began conducting at the far more significant Dresden State Opera in 1941, and was appointed conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic in 1944. The postwar years found him back in his hometown of Munich, on the conducting staff of the State Opera there. He served as chief conductor of Munich's Gärtnerplatz Theater from 1956 to 1967, leaving to become chief conductor of Munich's Bavarian Radio Orchestra (1967-1975). His many years in Munich brought him into close contact with Carl Orff, and he recorded many of Orff's works, including Die Kluge and Der Mond.