Christian Kluttig

Kluttig was born in Dresden as a son of the cantor and subsequent Kirchenmusikdirektor Gottfried Kluttig (1913-2004).

Kluttig had accordingly grown up with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

In his hometown, he attended the Kreuzschule.

Christian Kluttig (born 17 August 1943) is a German conductor, pianist and Hochschullehrer.

From 1961 to 1967, he studied conducting with general music director Rudolf Neuhaus and Horst Förster at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.

Furthermore, he took part in conducting courses given by Arvīds Jansons and Igor Markevitch in Weimar as well as Hans Swarowsky and Witold Rowicki in Vienna.

After he had also undergone piano training in Dresden with Ingeborg Finke-Siegmund, he received his first engagement as solo répétiteur with conducting duties at the Saxon State Opera in 1967.

There, he was active as an opera conductor for the first time with Le postillon de Lonjumeau by Adolphe Adam, Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber and Die Zauberflöte by Mozart.

In 1969, he also conducted his first Handel opera with Deidamia.

In Dresden, he learned a lot from guest conductors such as Rudolf Kempe and Igor Markevitch during orchestral work.

With his Dresden qualifications, he moved in 1969 to Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz), where he became First Kapellmeister at the city Theater in 1969.

In this capacity he studied among others the operas Simon Boccanegra by Verdi and The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky.

At the Opera House, he conducted the premiere of the Carl Riha production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Kammersänger Konrad Rupf as Hans Sachs in 1974.

In 1975, he rose to the position of Musical Director.

From 1979 to 1990, he was chief conductor of the Orchester des Opernhauses Halle.

In 1979, he opened the Robert Schumann Days in the Stadthalle Chemnitz with Schumann's oratorio Paradise and the Peri.

In addition, he devoted himself in Chemnitz to the symphonic work of Dmitri Shostakovich and Gustav Mahler.

Finally, in 1979, artistic director Ulf Keyn brought him to the Landestheater Halle as musical director.

The new management team continued to include Martin Schneider (opera director), Karin Zauft (chief dramaturge), Peter Sodann (drama director) and Dieter Wardetzki (1st play director of the Sprechtheater).

He also became chief conductor of the Orchestra of the Halle Opera House and took over all George Frideric Handel productions in Halle from 1979 to 1990.

Thus he directed Ezio (1979), Agrippina (1980), Poro (1981), Alessandro (1983), Floridante (1984), Il pastor fido and Terpsichore (1985), Partenope (1985), Rinaldo (1987), Oreste (1988) and Tamerlano (1990).

With 41 performances, the opera Rinaldo was the second most performed Handel production in Halle.

Kluttig received support regarding performance practice from the musicologist Bernd Baselt.

Kluttig had to cope with "an immense workload and encrusted structures" in connection with the Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Gesellschaft, according to opera director Andreas Baumann.

In addition to Baumann, from 1981, he worked closely in Halle with Peter Konwitschny, from 1986.

Thus Kluttig played his part in opening up the festival to theatre directors.

Kluttig helped several singers socialised in Leipzig to get engagements in the Saale city, mainly on the recommendation of the singing teacher Helga Forner.

Among the new recruits were Annette Markert, Juliane Claus, Hendrikje Wangemann, Jürgen Trekel and Tomas Möwes.

He repeatedly invited Simone Kermes as a guest.

The first "in-house" countertenor Axel Köhler received special support.

According to Baumann, Kluttig stood for the "retention of Handel's dramaturgy" and had "new translations produced that were oriented towards the original text".

In this way, Kluttig provided essential suggestions for a "New Handel Style Halle".

Halle advanced to become an "East German centre of historical performance practice", as music journalist Michael Struck-Schloen put it.

For musicologist Karin Zauft, Kluttig was one of the pioneers of historical performance practice in the GDR The opera ensemble made guest appearances both in the so-called Eastern Bloc (Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary) as well as in the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Appointed General Music Director in 1983, he worked as such at the theatres in Halle (Saale) and Theater Koblenz.

The Handel interpreter rendered special services to the implementation of Historically informed performance in the Saale city, which made him one of the most important protagonists in this field in the GDR.

He also devoted himself to Neue Musik, premiering Reiner Bredemeyer's opera Candide.

In a later interview (1985), he stated that his Wagner work so far had proved to be "a great happiness" for him.

At the same time, he regretted that he had hardly found the opportunity to interpret him.

After performances in 1985 at the Prague Spring International Music Festival and at the Dresden Music Festivals, guest appearances took him to the Kissinger Sommer even before the fall of the Wall.