Walter Weller (30 November 1939 – 14 June 2015) was an Austrian-bornconductor and classicalviolinist. He made several recordings over the years, founded his ownstring quartet, and led or co-led several well known orchestras and operas. Weller won multiple awards throughout his lifetime.
Weller was born inVienna, Austria, where he began taking violin lessons at the age of six.[citation needed] He went on to study at theVienna Hochschule für Musik[1] and first gained renown as aprodigy on the violin. His father, also named Walter Weller, was a violinist in theVienna Philharmonic. At age 17, Weller became a member of both the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestras.[2] In 1961, at age 22, he became jointconcertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic[3] withWilli Boskovsky, and remained in this post for 11 years.
While leading the orchestra, Weller also established and led his ownstring quartet, the Weller Quartet, from 1958 to 1969.[4] In 1966, he married Elisabeth Samohyl, and the couple had a son.
Weller's first engagements as a conductor were in 1966, deputising at short notice forKarl Böhm. His conducting debut at theVienna State Opera was in 1969, leadingDie Entführung aus dem Serail. He later served asGeneralmusikdirektor (GMD) ofDuisburg,Germany, for the 1971–1972 season.[1][5] From 1975 to 1978, he was principal conductor of theNiederösterreichischen Tonkünstlerorchester.[2] From 1994 to 1997, he was chief conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the last conductor with that title before the orchestra joined with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Basel to form theSinfonieorchester Basel, and in parallel, was GMD in Basel. He also served as principal guest conductor of theSpanish National Orchestra from 1987 until 2002. Weller served as music director of theNational Orchestra of Belgium from 2007 to 2012, at which time he became honorary conductor of the orchestra.[6] In 2010, he became the first honorary conductor of theTrondheim Symphony Orchestra. He also became Conductor Laureate of the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and Associate Director of theValencia Orchestra.
InGreat Britain, Weller held several principal conductorships. From 1977 to 1980, he was principal conductor of theRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He then held the same post with theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1980 to 1986. In 1992, he became principal conductor of theScottish National Orchestra, and helped to mediate strained relations between the orchestra's musicians and management at the time.[7][8] He served as the SNO's principal conductor until 1997, and subsequently became the orchestra's Conductor Emeritus.
The Weller Quartet's recordings forDecca Records includedHaydn’s complete Op 33,Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms,Berg andShostakovich.[9]
Weller's recording début as a conductor was with the Vienna orchestra in operatic excerpts sung by Pilar Lorengar.[3] His next was directing theSuisse Romande Orchestra in Shostakovich'sSymphony No. 1 andSymphony No. 9. His recordings of the Beethoven, Mendelssohn andProkofiev symphony cycles have long remained available on LP and CD. In 2025 he recordings for Decca were gathered in a 20-CD box set and re-issued by Eloquence, which included the Prokofiev, aMozart violin concerto cycle with Mayumi Fujikawa, aBartók piano concerto cycle withPascal Rogé,Má vlast, and BrahmsHungarian Dances.[3] In the studio his preference was ensuring complete movements were recorded in one take, to avoid editing in small sections.[3]
Weller was awarded theGrand Decoration of Honour in Silver for services to the Republic of Austria in 1998.[10] He was also the recipient of the Mozart Interpretationspreis, Salzburg. In Vienna, he was awarded the "Golden Beethoven Medal".[citation needed]
TheBank of Scotland honored Weller by printing his portrait on a special50 pound note.[1]
Weller was thanked in the acknowledgements toJilly Cooper's novelAppassionata, due to his support to her research.[11]
