Franz Hummel was born in 1939 and is one of today’s most renowned and original European composers.
In his childhood, he was dis covered, supported and encouraged by Richard Strauss, Eugen Papst, Hans Knappertsbusch and Elly Ney, and subsequently became a pianist (although he had started to compose at the age of seven).
He gave concerts throughout Europe and the USA, making over 60 LP recordings that encompass almost the entire classical and romantic repertoire, as well as many modern works.
His last major tour as a pianist was in 1973 through what was then the USSR.
From 1973 on, he dedicated himself to composition and only gave sporadic concerts.
Hummel’s “farewell concert” in New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1996, received a standing ovation and Kurt Masur, who was present at this concert, expressed his admiration for Hummel and his partner, the violinist Liana Issakadze.
Franz Hummel’ s operas, symphonies, ballet scores, concertos and chamber music have been played by famous instrumentalists and orchestras.
Some of his operas (there are 19 to date) have been shown throughout Europe, for instance:
Zarathustra based on Friedrich Nietzsche’s life and philosophic work, was recently premiered in Regensburg, Fouché was the opening opera for the “Cultural Capital of Europe” Linz 09 in Austria,
Blaubart , a parable on Sigmund Freud’s Case History “Dora”, was performed about 120 times in cities including Moscow , Paris, London and Rome.
Hummel’s Violin Concerto Archaeopteryx was premiered in1988 in German Television with the Südwestfunk Orchestra and the violinist Ulf Hoelscher, who then gave the live premiere in St. Petersburg with the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Verbitsky.
Hummel improvises regularly with the world - famous Klezmer clarinettist Giora Feidman (
http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4537535 ).
Hummel has a longstanding association with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, which has not only performed many of his symphonic works and played in Hummel’s much acclaimed music festival “Sinfonischer Sommer Riedenburg”, (Symphonic Summer Riedenburg), but also recorded the CD of his first musical Ludwig II.