Austrian Cellist and Conductor, Heinrich Schiff Dies at Age 65

Heinrich Schiff, Austrian cellist and conductor, has passed away at the age of 65 in Vienna. He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971. He studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky, and made his conducting debut in 1986.

Schiff was born in Gmunden, Austria in 1951. He was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996, and recorded with them for the Collins Classics label. He also held chief conductorships with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra in Copenhagen, Denmark (1996-2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur.

In 2004, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and served in the post from 2005 to 2008. He stood down from the post in 2008 for health reasons.

Schiff played the "Mara" Stradivarius (1711) and "Sleeping Beauty" made by Montagnana in Venice in 1739. His recording of the Bach Cello Suites won prizes, and his recording of the Shostakovich concertos won the Grand Prix du Disque. His recording of the BrahmsDouble Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Sawallisch won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. Composers who have written cello concertos for Schiff include John Casken[1][3] and Friedrich Cerha.

Among his students were Rudi Spring, Gautier Capuçon, Richard Harwood and Natalie Clein.