Schuch, Ernst von (EN)

Schuch Ernst Edler von, *23 November 1846 Graz, †10 May 1914 Kötzschenbroda (near Dresden), Austrian conductor. He studied under E. Stoltz in Graz and O. Dessoff in Vienna. He also studied law, but after passing a partial exam, he devoted himself to music, choosing theatre as his main field of activity. In 1867, he was conductor of the Breslauer Theatre in Wrocław, then he worked as a conductor of theatres in Würzburg (1868–70), Graz (1870/71) and Basel, from where in 1872, he was appointed to Dresden as conductor of an Italian opera troupe, and later conductor (1873 ), first conductor (1879) and director (1882) of the Hofoper, which he managed continuously until 1914. In 1884, he took over the management of the Hofkapelle from F. Wüllner, and in 1889, he became the city’s general music director. Schuch’s activities in Dresden, from where he rarely travelled for guest performances, dynamized the city’s musical life; endowed with conducting, organisational and teaching talent, he led the Dresden ensembles to a high level of performance and repertoire. In particular, the Hofoper, under Schuch’s direction, gained the reputation of one of the best European opera stages and was perceived as a co-creator of stage productions to which he invited outstanding directors and set designers, including M. Reinhardt and A. Roller. Schuch introduced approximately 120 works to the Dresden stage and conducted 51 premieres, including operas by A. Bungert, E. Dohnányi, F. Draeseke, I.J. Paderewski (Manru, 1901) and R. Strauss (Feuersnot, 1901, Salome, 1905, Elektra, 1909, Der Rosenkavalier, 1911). For Strauss, Schuch was an exemplary conductor, and the Dresden stage he ran was a “paradise for world premieres.” “Schuch is a miracle,” he wrote, “only [he] allows me to get to know my work, the entire opera scene disappears and live music appears” (E. Krause Ryszard Strauss, Kraków 1983). Similarly enthusiastic opinions were expressed by others: A. Chybiński, after the Munich concert of Schuch, conducting works by Mozart and Weber, emphasised “the subtlety and elegance of interpretation, almost incredible infallibility when it comes to capturing the whole and details and developing colourful splendour” (W czasach Straussa i Tetmajera, Kraków 1959), and A. Toscanini, assessing various conductors, concluded: “But there was someone really good – Nikisch and E. von Schuch in Dresden” (H. Sachs Toscanini, Warsaw 1988).

Schuch’s wife (from 1875) was Clementine Schuch-Proska, born Clementina Procházka (1850–1932), a student of M. Marchesi, a leading soprano of the Hofoper in Dresden. She appeared as a guest on stages and opera stages in Vienna, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Moscow and London (Covent Garden, 1884). Their daughter, Liesel von Schuch (1891–1990), a soprano, also sang at the Dresden opera, repeating with less success the coloratura parts that were her mother’s speciality.

Literature: P. Sakolowsky Ernst von Schuch, Leipzig 1901; F. v. Schuch Richard Strauss, Ernst von Schuch und Dresdens Oper, Leipzig 2^nd ed. 1953; E. Krause Richard Strauss, Ernst von Schuch und Dresden, in: Richard Strauss-Ehrung, ed. W. Höntsch, “Blätter der Staatstheater”, Dresden 1963/64.