Hager, Leopold
Hager, Leopold
Hager, Leopold, Austrian conductor; b. Salzburg, Oct. 6, 1935. He took courses in piano, organ, harpsichord, conducting, and composition at the Salzburg Mozarteum (1949–57), his principal teachers being Paumgartner, Wimberger, Bresgen, J. N. David, and Kornauth. He was asst. conductor at the Mainz City Theater (1957–62). After conducting the Linz Landestheater (1962–64), he held the post of 1st conductor of the Cologne Opera (1964–65). After serving as Generalmusikdirektor in Freiburg im Breisgau (1965–69), he was chief conductor of the Mozarteum Orch. and of the Landestheater in Salzburg (1969–81). On Oct. 14, 1976, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. conducting Le Nozze di Figaro, and remained on its roster until 1978. He also appeared as a guest conductor with other opera houses as well as orchs. in Europe and the U.S. In 1981 he became chief conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Radio-Télé Luxembourg.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire