Frank, Ernst

views updated

Frank, Ernst

Frank, Ernst, German conductor and composer; b. Munich, Feb. 7, 1847; d. Oberdöbling, near Vienna, Aug. 17, 1889. He was a student of M. de Fontaine (piano) and F. Lachner (composition). After conducting in Würzburg (1868), he was 2nd chorus master at the Vienna Court Opera (from 1869); he also served as chorus master of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna (1870–71). He was court Kapellmeister in Mannheim (1872–78), conductor at the Frankfurt am Main Stadttheater (1878–79), and court Kapellmeister in Hannover (1879–87). In 1887 he was committed to a mental asylum. He wrote the operas Adam de la Halle (Karlsruhe, April 9, 1880), Hero (Berlin, Nov. 26, 1884), and Der Sturm (Hannover, Oct. 14, 1887); also completed Goetz’s opera Francesca da Rimini (Mannheim, Sept. 30, 1877).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire