Christoph Eschenbach


Christoph Eschenbach is a German pianist and conductor.

Early life

Eschenbach was born in Breslau, Germany. His parents were Margarethe and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned during World War II. His mother died giving birth to him; his father, a politically active anti-Nazi, was sent to the Eastern front as part of a Nazi punishment battalion where he was killed. As a result of this trauma, Eschenbach did not speak for a year, until he was asked if he wanted to play music. Wallydore Eschenbach, his mother's cousin, adopted him in 1946 and began to teach him to play the piano. At age 11, he attended a concert conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler which had a great impact on him. In 1955, Eschenbach enrolled at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, studying piano with Hans-Otto Schmidt-Neuhaus and conducting with Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg. He then pursued further studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with and Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg.

Musical career

As a pianist, Eschenbach has won numerous first-place piano competition prizes, including first prize in the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland in 1965. In 1964, he made his first recording for Deutsche Grammophon and signed a contract with the label. Eschenbach continued to study conducting with George Szell, with whom he worked for more than three years. In addition, he counted Herbert von Karajan as a mentor.
In 1981, Eschenbach became principal guest conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and was chief conductor from 1982 to 1986. He was co-artistic director of the Pacific Music Festival from 1992 to 1998. He was chief conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg from 1998 to 2004. He was artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival from 1999 until 2003. From 2000 to 2010, Eschenbach was Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris.
In the United States, Eschenbach was music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra from 1988 to 1999. The orchestra toured Japan and Europe under his tenure as well made several recordings with Koch International Classics and RCA. In honour of his achievements and tenure with the Houston Symphony, the City of Houston placed a bronze commemorative star with his name in front of Jones Hall, the performance home of the Houston Symphony. He was music director of the Ravinia Festival from 1994 to 2005.
Eschenbach has made more than 80 recordings as piano soloist, conductor, or both, has appeared in several television documentaries, and has made many concert broadcasts for different European, Japanese and U.S. networks. Eschenbach is credited with helping and supporting talented young musicians in their career development, including soprano Renée Fleming, pianists Tzimon Barto and Lang Lang, cellists Claudio Bohórquez, and Daniel Müller-Schott, and soprano Marisol Montalvo.

Philadelphia Orchestra

Eschenbach became the seventh Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2003. His appointment generated controversy because, at the time of the announcement, Eschenbach had not conducted the orchestra in over four years and there was a perceived lack of personal chemistry between him and the musicians prior to the appointment. One musician from the orchestra had stated, after the announcement:
'The orchestra was taken aback by the attitude because there was no meeting to verify what we thought,' the musician said. 'There was no chemistry with Eschenbach. He hasn't conducted us in four or five years and 20 to 30 persons had never played with him.'"
In a 2004 article, Eschenbach tried to downplay such statements, and noted his own particular style of interpretation:
Partway into his tenure, his initial 3-year contract was renewed to 2008.
However, in October 2006, the orchestra and Eschenbach announced that he would conclude his tenure in Philadelphia at the close of the 2007-2008 season. In the weeks prior to his departure, Philadelphia Inquirer music critics Peter Dobrin and David Patrick Stearns had contrasting articles whether or not he should be retained, with Dobrin suggesting that Eschenbach should move on and Stearns arguing that Eschenbach should remain. Other harsh criticism of Eschenbach's tenure in Philadelphia has been aired.
Following the announcement, Dobrin in the Inquirer wrote that Eschenbach's tenure in Philadelphia has been difficult for many musicians:
The paper also cited a number of accomplishments including a new recording contract and the appointment of nine musicians, four of whom were principals. In addition, Eschenbach has received praise for his work in fund-raising for the orchestra.
Following the announcement and Dobrin's Inquirer article, The Philadelphia Orchestra Association posted a letter on its website, dated 27 October 2006, which also was sent by e-mail to orchestra patrons. A quote from this letter condemned Dobrin's criticism:
Dobrin, in turn, responded in a 29 October 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer article by quoting one of his 2001 Inquirer articles around the time of the Eschenbach announcement:
One musician used the word "underwhelmed." Another said he felt "betrayed."...
This contrasts with earlier reports of how the musicians "had input" in the choice of the previous Philadelphia music director, Wolfgang Sawallisch. In addition, the new orchestra president, James Undercofler, had spoken with orchestra musicians, and had told Eschenbach this summary of his discussions with them:
In an article by Cragg Hines in the newspaper The Washingtonian on 1 December 2009 Eschenbach was quoted:
In a 2007 article, Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times'' has written about the Eschenbach/Philadelphia Orchestra situation:
In a June 2007 article, Stearns reported Eschenbach as commenting on the Philadelphia Orchestra management as follows:
In a July 2007 article, Dobrin emphasized that the problems in the Eschenbach/Philadelphia Orchestra relationship were not related to personality, but rather to musical quality:
In August 2007, the orchestra announced extended guest-conducting periods for Eschenbach with the ensemble in the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, after the conclusion of his tenure as music director.

Later career

On 25 September 2008 the National Symphony Orchestra appointed Eschenbach as its sixth music director, effective with the 2010-11 season, as well as the newly created music director of the Kennedy Center. In September 2011 the NSO and the Kennedy Center announced the extension of Eschenbach's contract through the 2014-2015 season. In March 2014, the organisations announced an extension of Eschenbach's contract through the 2016-2017 season. In February 2015, the NSO announced the scheduled conclusion of Eschenbach's tenure as NSO music director at the end of the 2016-2017 season, at which time he became the NSO's conductor laureate.
In November 2017 the Konzerthausorchester Berlin announced the appointment of Eschenbach as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019-2020 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.

Honours and awards