Obituary,
Walter Weller (1939-2015)
We were sorry to hear today of the death of violinist and conductor Walter Weller at the age of 75, after a short illness.
Originally an instrumentalist, he rose through the ranks of the Vienna Philharmonic's violin desks, becoming leader at the age of just 22. Not long after this he stepped into the mighty shoes of Karl Böhm as a stand-in conductor for a concert, and his career at the podium was launched.
Positions at Vienna and abroad followed - at the Volksoper and Staatsoper in Vienna, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and with the Scottish National Orchestra (with whom he became very successful and, in the 1990s, achieved the distinction of featuring on a banknote - the Scottish £50 - during his own lifetime!)
He recorded several complete symphony cycles - a complete Prokofiev set for Decca, and Mendelssohn for Chandos, among others.
A selection of recordings by Walter Weller
Josef Suk's Mahlerian Asrael Symphony, named after the Angel of Death who features in many Judeo-Christian mystical texts, is a reflective and poignant - and at times angry - meditation on the deaths in rapid succession of Suk's father-in-law (one Antonin Dvorak) and his wife.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Weller's complete Mendelssohn symphony cycle with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC
The complete symphonies of Prokofiev, recorded variously with the LSO and LPO.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
David Smith - Head of Digital
