German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi has died. He was 95 years old.

Head of the Cleveland Orchestra in the United States for almost 20 years, from 1984 to 2002, Dohnanyi established this group among the world's great orchestras.

Born in Berlin on September 8, 1929, into an anti-Nazi family of Hungarian origin, grandson of the Hungarian composer and conductor Ernst von Dohnányi, Christoph began his career as assistant to conductor Georg Solti at the Frankfurt Opera in the early 1950s, whom he would succeed as principal in 1968. In between, he worked with the opera houses of Lübeck and Kassel, in Germany, and the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra (Westdeutsche Rundfunk).

In 1977, he left Frankfurt for the Hamburg State Opera, leaving the post in 1984 to take on the artistic direction of the Cleveland Orchestra, one of the "big five" in the United States, along with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston and Chicago symphonies and the Philadelphia Orchestra, especially after the work undertaken by the Hungarian-American conductor George Szell, from 1946 to 1970.

In Cleveland, "Dohnányi maintained and consolidated the standards of orchestral discipline, stylistic refinement, and sheer consistency associated with his formidable predecessor, [conductor] George Szell," wrote the British music magazine Gramophone of the German maestro. "Dohnányi must be given credit for equaling and sometimes surpassing Szell in Brahms, Schumann, Dvořák, Bartók, Bruckner, and Mozart."

In 1994, Dohnányi became principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonia Orchestra, a position he reaffirmed as principal conductor in 1997.

In 2004, he returned to Hamburg to become the principal conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, until 2011.

The Salzburg Festival, which raised the black flag in mourning for Dohnányi's death, recalled today, in a statement, the great productions directed by the maestro since his debut at the Austrian festival in 1962: 'Die Bassariden', by Hans Werner Henze, 'Baal', by Friedrich Cerha, 'Bluebeard's Castle', by Béla Bartók, 'Erwartung', by Arnold Schoenberg, 'Salomé', by Richard Strauss.

Dohnányi's last performance at the Salzburg Festival was in 2014, when he conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Bruckner's Ninth Symphony.

Today, NDR Director General Hendrik Lünenborg also mourned the "great loss" of "one of the most important figures in international music."

The Cleveland Orchestra also reacted today to Dohnányi's death, remembering "the visionary conductor [who] elevated it to global prominence."

"Christoph von Dohnányi was a sublime conductor and music director, respected throughout the world," said Cleveland Orchestra President André Gremillet. "His rich family background gave him a unique musical perspective, and the Cleveland Orchestra was fortunate to have him for a significant period in its history. Maestro Dohnányi's artistry and dedication engendered a deep mutual respect among our musicians, felt by our audiences, who deeply admired him."

Among the Portuguese musicians who worked with Christoph von Dohnányi are Joana Carneiro, principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic of Galicia, and Nuno Coelho, principal conductor and artistic director of the Orquesta Sinfónica do Principado da Asturias.

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