Christoph Eschenbach

Pianist and composer Christoph Eschenbach was born in Breslau in 1940. He was orphaned by age four and shuttled around refugee camps in wartime Germany; salvation came when he was rescued by an aunt, who taught the introverted and traumatized boy to play the piano. A turning point in his career came in 1965, when he won the prestigious Clara Haskil piano competition. A string of notable recordings followed, including works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. All attested to Eschenbach’s highly individual, risk-taking style of interpretation, and he quickly became a sought-after pianist on the international circuit. At the same time, he was developing his skills as a conductor, receiving mentorship from George Szell and Herbert von Karajan. In 1979, Eschenbach became music director of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic, and in later years held leadership positions at the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich (1971-85), the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1988-99), Orchestre de Paris (2000-10), the Philadelphia Orchestra (2003-08), and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. (2010-17). Eschenbach’s conducting style—impulsive and highly charged, with frequent tempo changes—frequently divided listeners, especially in Philadelphia, where he clashed with musicians on questions of interpretation. But a solid core of admirers valued Eschenbach’s passionate commitment to the music, and the emotional impact he was capable of creating.