Kegel, Herbert
Kegel, Herbert
Kegel, Herbert, distinguished German conductor; b. Dresden, July 29, 1920; d. there, Nov. 20, 1990. He studied at the Dresden Staatskapelle’s orch. school, where his mentors included Böhm and Blacher (1935–40). In 1946 he became conductor of the Rostock Opera; in 1949, was engaged as conductor of the Leipzig Radio Choir and Orch.; was made conductor (1953), Generalmusikdirektor (1958), and chief conductor (1960) of the Leipzig Radio Sym. Orch. From 1975 to 1978 he was a prof, at the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik, and in 1978 became a prof, at the Dresden Hochschule für Musik. From 1977 to 1985 he served as chief conductor of the Dresden Phil. He was regarded as one of the most competent conductors of East Germany, combining a thorough knowledge of his repertoire with a fine sense of effective presentation of the music.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire