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Franz Hummel

Franz Hummel

Franz Hummel is considered one of Europe’s most renowned and original composers. His musical talent was noticed early and he received support from such celebrities as Richard Strauss, Eugen Papst, Hans Knappertsbusch and Elly Ney. Hummel has appeared in most of the major concert halls in Europe and the US. His discography, which runs to more than 60 discs, ranges across nearly the entire classical and romantic repertoire. His last tour as a pianist took him to the USSR in 1973; since then he has devoted himself entirely to composing. Hummel’s operas, symphonies, ballet music, concerti and chamber music have been performed by the most prestigious artists and orchestras.
Some of his 16 operas – “Fouché” is number 17 – have been performed all over Europe; “Bluebeard” for instance, a parable on Sigmund Freud, has notched up more than 120 performances in opera houses ranging from Moscow to Paris, London and Rome. The ZDF made a recording the entire work in 1985.
In January 2006 his “Sinfonia funebre” was premiered in Kobe, Japan, to commemorate the devastating earthquake of 1996. In the same year Hummel completed his “33 Veränderungen über einen Walzer von Anton Diabelli”, a recording of which by the Argentinian pianist Carmen Piazzini will be launched in January 2009 by neos in collaboration with Bayerischer Rundfunk. Lasting about an hour, this work has been conceived as a modern response to Beethoven’s “Diabelli Variations”.
Since he completed the opera seria “Fouché” for Linz09, Hummel has been involved in a work for the stage on Friedrich Nietzsche, which is taking shape under the working title “Zarathustra”.