Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911) was anAustrianconductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day.[1] He composed three operas, of whichAgnes Bernauer (Weimar, 1880) was the most successful, as well as a string quartet and numerous songs and other music.[2] His orchestration ofRichard Wagner's "Wesendonck Lieder" is still the most commonly performed version. He was also a teacher, andhis pupils includedErnest van Dyck andWilhelm Petersen.
Mottl was born inUnter Sankt Veit, todayHietzing,Vienna in 1856. His date of birth has been reported variously as 29 July,[1] 24 August,[3] and 29 August.[4] After early voice training at the Löwenburg Konvikt, a training school for the Imperial Court Chapel, he had a successful career at the Vienna Conservatory.[1] He was soon recognized as a gifted conductor ofWagner's music, assistedHans Richter in preparing the first completeRing Cycle at Bayreuth in 1876, and himself conductedTristan und Isolde at Bayreuth in 1886. The best-known version of Wagner's "Wesendonck Lieder" is an orchestration by Mottl.
From 1881 to 1903 he was chief conductor at theKarlsruhe Opera and was widely renowned for his work there, particularly in Wagner,Berlioz andChabrier, whose operas he championed. In 1903 he conducted the premier ofFriederich Klose's opera Ilsebill there to great acclaim.[5] He also orchestrated Chabrier'sBourrée fantasque andTrois valses romantiques, and arranged a popular suite of orchestral excerpts fromChristoph Willibald Gluck's operas. In later years, as a conductor of Wagner especially, he visited Amsterdam, London and New York, guest-conducting theMetropolitan Opera in 1903.[citation needed] He was made a director of theAcademy of Arts, Berlin in 1904.[2]
In June 1907 he cut someplayer piano rolls withWelte-Mignon, including his own piano transcription of the Prelude, the Love Duet and Brangäne's Warning fromTristan. He suffered a heart attack on 21 June 1911 while conducting his 100th performance ofTristan in Munich. He was taken to a hospital where he died 11 days later on 2 July, aged 54, but not before marrying his longtime mistress, the sopranoZdenka Faßbender.[6]
His grave monument was made byFritz Behn.
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