English Section

Prominent conductor Gabriel Chmura dies at 74

20.11.2020 14:18
Gabriel Chmura, who served as artistic director of the Grand Opera in Poznań, western Poland, since 2012, has passed away at the age of 74.
Concert conducted by Gabriel Chmura in 2017.
Concert conducted by Gabriel Chmura in 2017. Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Momot

“The music in our theatre will never sound the same. A great Musician, a brilliant Conductor, an extraordinary Personality, a wonderful Man”, wrote the Poznań opera on its website.

Chmura was born in 1946 in Wrocław. He was seven years old when his parents emigrated to Israel and it was at the Music Academy in Tel Aviv that he undertook studies in composition, conducting and piano performance.

He then studied conducting in Paris and Vienna, and won several prestigious awards, including first prize at the Herbert von Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1971.

He went on to serve as music director in Aachen, Bochum, the National Arts Center in Ottawa and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.

He made numerous highly-acclaimed recordings with leading European orchestras.

In recent years, several of his productions with the Grand Opera in Poznań, notably Janáček’s Jenůfa and Wagner’s The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, received rave reviews.

He made a great contribution to the promotion of the music of Mieczysław Weinberg, recording his symphonies for Chandos and conducting productions of the operas The Passenger and The Portrait.

Chmura conducted his last concert, with the orchestra of the Grand Opera in Poznań, on October 2.

(mk/pk)