Artist database

Erich Bergel was born on 1st June 1930 in Romania, in the Transylvanian village of Rozsnyó, and he spent the first four decades of his life there, in one of Europe’s most complex ethnic regions. He received a dual heritage from the paternal home. On the one hand, the multi-national family, for his father was of Saxon origin and his mother descended from Spanish and Hungarian ancestors. On the other hand, his love for chamber music and the joy of playing music every day in the family circle (under the direction of his violinist father, he played music with his three sisters and could play the violin, the flute and the piano from an early age). The organ and several brass wind instruments soon followed in the line of instruments to be discovered, and this exceptionally manifold musical career once again brings to mind the Golden Age of Bach. (He was able to make use of his excellent instrumental knowledge later, in orchestral work, and when, in the 1960s, he was barred for political reasons from conducting, he made a living playing the trumpet with the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra). Between 1950 and 1955, he graduated from the College of Music in Cluj, specializing in conducting and the organ, but he also studied composing and the flute. His years of studying only strengthened in him Bach's heritage, which was conveyed by Kurt Mild, a pupil of Günter Ramin and Fritz Heitman, the best representatives of the German organist school. Bergel's passionate interest in Bach's final monumental work, The Art of Fugue, dates from these years of study. After graduating in 1955, he worked as a musical director for four years in Nagyvárad, then from 1959 he became conductor of the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra, but he was arrested that same year, charged with 'subversive activity against the state'. His 'crime' in the eyes of the Communist regime was that in his capacity of musical director he regularly performed religious oratories and took part in several organ concerts. He was sentenced to seven years, and after spending three and a half years in prison and labour camp, he was given amnesty in 1962. For a while he couldn't use his conductor's baton, he slowly recovered from the physical and spiritual torments of his captivity with the help of yoga and the intensive study of Bach's The Art of Fugue. Between 1965 and 1971, he was once again conductor of the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra. With Herbert von Karajan's personal patronage he was finally able to leave Romania in 1971, and his career as an international conductor evolved very fast. Karajan invited him as guest conductor of the Berlin Philharmonics, and then from 1972 on he taught at the Music Academy of Berlin. In the course of his career as conductor he worked with 160 orchestras in 35 different countries, on every continent. Among others, he directed the Houston Symphonics, several orchestras of the BBC, and the Flemish Radio' Orchestra (Brussels) for longer periods. From 1989 to 1994 he was the leading conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Society's Orchestra, and a regular guest conductor of the Hungarian State Opera. He worked successfully in raising the artistic level of these renowned orchestras. His interpretations of Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner raised the interest of the profession and the audience alike; critics saw in him the continuation of the great line of conductors, from Furtwangler to Karajan.
The passionate attention that Bergel gave Bach's mysterious opus ultimum for several decades resulted in two books (Die Kunst der Fuge, 1980, Bachs letzte Fuge, 1985; both published by the Brockhaus printing house). These books are among the most significant musicological experiments endeavouring to interpret the chef d'oeuvre of Bach. Bergel contributed to the afterlife of The Art of Fugue not only with his scientific conclusions, but also as composer. He complemented the unfinished closing fugue of this monumental cycle. Karajan called it an 'epoch-making feat' and one of the most noted Bach scholars of this century, Friedrich Smend, said it was 'a revolutionary insight into Bach's last work of art'. Bergel did the instrumentation of the whole work and his variation is different from all others in that the orchestra is treated in an untraditional, organ-like way.
The Bergel instrumentation bears the traits of the musician's most personal character: that inner flame which has made his famous interpretations legendary, that spiritual fire in which discipline and planning are combined with the magic of spontaneity.
There is a common faith at the base of Bergel's rich musical character: the conductor, the music scholar, the organist, the 'musical preacher' and the teacher were all inspired by what he formulated with the most beautiful words: "Music is an invitation to the greatest joy and at the same time to the greatest solemnity. It teaches you both. I cannot think of a more complex pedagogy than music."

Year	Title	Publisher	Code	Remark
1996	Chopin, Fryderyk: Concerto for piano in Em/Beethoven: Piano Concerto in Bf No2, Op19	Claremont	1536
1998	Strauss, Richard: Metamorfózisok; Honegger, Arthur: II. szimfónia (Strauss, Richard: Metamorphosen; Honegger, Arthur: Symphony No.2)	BMC Records	BMC CD 012	Own
1998	Bach, J.S.: A fúga művészete (Die Kunst der Fuge)	BMC Records	BMC CD 011
1998	Romantic Piano Concertos	Denon Records	17013
2000	Bach, J. S. - Revisited	BMC Records	BMC CD 043
2002	Brahms, Johannes: Szimfóniák	BMC Records	BMC CD 067	Own
2010	Chopin, Fryderyk: Concerto No.1 & 2	Denon Records	5756372