Hans Oppenheim

Hans Oppenheim (25 April 1892, Berlin, Germany — 19 August 1965, Edinburgh, Scotland) was a German-Scottish opera conductor, pianist, and bandmaster, a principal conductor of The English Opera Group (1946 to 1951) and co-founder of The Saltire Music Group in 1950. He was born in a Jewish family, the son of renowned neurologist Hermann Oppenheim. Hans studied piano with Hermann Zilcher and conducting with ​​Josef Anton Becht (1858—1926) at Musikhochschule München. Between 1913 and 1931, Oppenheim served as the conductor at several opera houses across Germany. In 1933, as German authorities began prosecuting Jews, Hans Oppenheim left the country, traveling through Denmark, Holland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia; he settled in England in March 1934. Hans served as Fritz Busch's first assistant at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in East Sussex, conducting Mozart's Die Zauberflöte opera during the 1935-36 season. Oppenheim was the music director of the Dartington Hall in Devon between 1937 and 1945. (When he conducted Purcell's Dido and Aeneas opera at Dartington, Oppenheim convinced a renowned pianist, Millicent Silver (1905—1986), to play continuo on a harpsichord, sparking Silver's lifelong commitment to the instrument.) From 1946 to 1951, Hans Oppenheim was a principal conductor and director of The English Opera Group. In 1950, he co-founded The Saltire Music Group in Edinburgh with the violinist and composer Isobel Dunlop (1901—1975). As a music pedagogue, Oppenheim trained British contralto Norma Procter and a few other notable vocalists. Oppenheim began returning to Germany after 1949, following the Second World War and de-Nazification of all cultural institutions. Since 1959, he has participated in organizing "German-English Music Weeks" at Schloss Elmau, bringing several renowned British musicians to his native country, including Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, and Amadeus-Quartett.