Franz Welser-Möst

Classical music conductor Franz Welser-Möst was born Franz Lepold Maria Möst in Linz, Austria on August 16, 1960. When he was young, he studied violin and composition and developed an interest in conducting. After suffering nerve damage after a car accident, he switched his studies to conducting. Mentored by Baron Andreas von Bennigsen, at the age of 22, Franz Welser-Möst conducted the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. In 1985, at the suggestion of his mentor, he adopted the stage name Welser-Möst before being appointed head of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden (1986-1991). He succeeded Klaus Tennstedt as director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, where he remained until 1996, after a stormy relationship with musicians, the public and critics. Between 1995 and 2000, he served as music director with the Zürich Opera House and became general music director in 2005. Leaving the Zürich Opera in 2008, he assumed the same position at the Vienna State Opera and held that position until resigning in 2014. Franz Welser-Möst came to international acclaim when he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Vienna New Year’s Concert in 2011, 2013, and 2023. Franz Wilser-Möst also toured internationally, making his US debut in 1989 with the St. Louis Symphony. Four years later, he was a guest conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra, which led to a full-time music director position with them, which has included several contract extensions. Under his leadership, the orchestra presented staged operas on a regular basis which included Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte as well as Strauss’ Salome and Daphne. In 2020, he published his autobiography, which was released in English – as From Silence: Finding Calm in a Dissonant World – in 2021. His recorded output includes Mozart: Requiem K626 (Beyer Version) - "Great" Mass in C Minor (1988), Bruckner: Symphonie No. 7 (1992), Orff: Catulli Carmina, Trionfo di Afrodite (1995), Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 (2003), Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie - Bruckner: Te Deum (2008), and The Peace Concert Versailles (2019) plus live recordings of his New Year’s concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra including Neujahrskonzert 2023 - New Year's Concert 2023.

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