Bernhard Kontarsky

Although he has performed often as a pianist, Bernhard Kontarsky is best known as a conductor and champion of contemporary music, particularly in the realm of opera. He has conducted many important operatic world premieres, including Mauricio Kagel's Die Erschöpfung der Welt (1980) and Hans Zender's Don Quijote de la Mancha (1993). Most of his discography has been devoted either to contemporary works or to generally neglected repertory out of the past. Thus, while he has conducted many of the repertory staples, especially in opera (Carmen, Boris Godunov), he is more closely associated with music by Nono, Stockhausen, Pascal Dusapin, and particularly Henze and Bernd Alois Zimmerman. As a pianist Kontarsky has often collaborated with famous soloists, including violinist Ruggiero Ricci. Kontarsky has made numerous recordings over the years for such labels as Erato, Teldec, and Vox. Bernhard Kontarsky was born in Iserlohn, Germany, on April 26, 1937. His older brothers, Aloys and Alfons, were both pianists and would later form the famous Klavierduo Kontarsky, performing until the death of Alfons in 2010. Bernhard studied conducting, piano, and chamber music performance at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. While there he was given the Mendelssohn Award for Chamber Music performance. Following graduation, Kontarsky took a conducting post with the Oper der Stadt Bonn. From 1964, he served as Kapellmeister at the Stuttgart State Theater. Kontarsky also did much freelancing and often appeared as a pianist, occasionally performing in concert with his brothers in three-piano repertory. He also branched out a bit: in 1965 he served as a repetiteur at the Cologne Opera. Throughout the 1970s Kontarsky was active as a conductor and pianist, and in 1981 he added another dimension to his career when he joined the faculty at the Frankfurt University of Music as a professor of conducting. Meanwhile, he was involved in several important premieres, among them, Henze's 1982 vocal work El rey de Harlem. Other notable premieres followed and in 1988 Kontarsky conducted a performance of the then-little known Bernd Alois Zimmerman opera Die Soldaten at the Stuttgart Opera. This production was eventually recorded and appeared on a highly acclaimed Teldec double-CD in 1991. Kontarsky gave the German premiere of Adriana Hölszky's Die Wände in 2000 at the Frankfurt Opera and the world premiere of Bruno Mantovani's L'Autre Côté in 2006 at the Opéra National du Rhin. Among Kontarsky's more acclaimed recordings is his 2010 Erato CD of Nono's Intolleranza 1960.