Paul Wranitzky

Composer and conductor Paul Wranitzky was a favorite in the latter capacity of Haydn and Beethoven. Popular in the early 19th century, his works were forgotten for many decades. He gained notice as a composer by the late 1780s; his opera Oberon -- The Fairy King of 1789 may have served as an inspiration for Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. By the 1790s, Wranitzky had reached the peak of his career. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven asked for him to conduct the premieres of their works, and in 1800, he conducted the first performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21. Wranitzky died in Vienna on September 29, 1808. The Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice has issued a series of recordings devoted to Wranitzky; that series in 2025 reached Wranitzky: Orchestral Music, Vol. 8.