Theo Mackeben
Encyclopedia
Theo Mackeben, born 5 January 1897 in Preußisch Stargard
, Westpreußen, died 10 January 1953 in Berlin, was a German pianist, conductor and composer, particularly of film music.
, as well as taking lessons from Jules de Westheim. He then became active as a café and radio pianist during the 1920s, at the Café Größenwahn and the Hotel Esplanade
in Berlin.
In 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
he conducted the first performance of Dreigroschenoper. Mackeben arranged the music from Millöcker
s operetta Gräfin Dubarry, for a 1931 production entitled Die Dubarry including an original song Ich schenk mein Herz nur dir allein.
In the 1930s he composed music for stage plays and over 50 films, including some directed by Max Ophüls
, Gustaf Gründgens
and Willy Forst. After the war he wrote a piano concerto and a Sinfonische Ballade for cello and orchestra, while also being conductor at the Metropol-Theater
.
and Berlin.
A selection of Mackeben's music was recorded by the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
conducted by Emmerich Smola and published in 1995 by Capriccio.
Starogard Gdanski
Starogard Gdański is a town in Eastern Pomerania in northwestern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants...
, Westpreußen, died 10 January 1953 in Berlin, was a German pianist, conductor and composer, particularly of film music.
Life and career
From 1916 to 1920 Mackeben studied violin and piano at the Hochschule für Musik KölnHochschule für Musik Köln
The Cologne University of Music is a music college in Cologne, and Germany's largest academy of music.-History:The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln...
, as well as taking lessons from Jules de Westheim. He then became active as a café and radio pianist during the 1920s, at the Café Größenwahn and the Hotel Esplanade
Hotel Esplanade Berlin
thumb|right|360px|Hotel EsplanadeHotel “Esplanade” once stood on Berlin’s busy transport and nightlife hub Potsdamer Platz. During its colourful and turbulent history it went from being one of the German capital’s most luxurious and celebrated hotels to a bombed-out ruin lost in the wastelands...
in Berlin.
In 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
The Theater am Schiffbauerdamm is a theatre building at the Schiffbauerdamm riverside in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, opened on November 19, 1892. Since 1954 it is home to the Berliner Ensemble theatre company, founded in 1949 by Helene Weigel and Bertolt Brecht.The original name of the...
he conducted the first performance of Dreigroschenoper. Mackeben arranged the music from Millöcker
Karl Millöcker
Carl Joseph Millöcker , was an Austrian composer of operettas and a conductor.He was born in Vienna, where he studied the flute at the Vienna Conservatory. While holding various conducting posts in the city, he began to compose operettas...
s operetta Gräfin Dubarry, for a 1931 production entitled Die Dubarry including an original song Ich schenk mein Herz nur dir allein.
In the 1930s he composed music for stage plays and over 50 films, including some directed by Max Ophüls
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer — known as Max Ophüls — was an influential German-born film director who worked in Germany , France , the United States , and France again...
, Gustaf Gründgens
Gustaf Gründgens
Gustaf Gründgens , born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, intendant and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg...
and Willy Forst. After the war he wrote a piano concerto and a Sinfonische Ballade for cello and orchestra, while also being conductor at the Metropol-Theater
Komische Oper Berlin
The Komische Oper Berlin is an opera company in Berlin, Germany, which specializes in German language productions of opera, operetta and musicals....
.
Recordings
As conductor, Mackeben's recordings from the late 1920s through the 1930s include extracts from Dreigroschenoper and Die Dubarry, Scassola's Laendische Suite, Mendelssohn's 'Spring Song', and fantasies from Smetana's Bartered Bride, Zeller's Der Vogelhändler, Verdi's La traviata, Weill's Mahogony and Suppé's Die schöne Galathee, on labels such as TelefunkenTelefunken
Telefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
and Berlin.
A selection of Mackeben's music was recorded by the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne is a German orchestra based in Cologne. The orchestra was founded in 1947 by Allied occupation authorities after World War II, as the orchestra of Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunk . The orchestra later acquired the names of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and...
conducted by Emmerich Smola and published in 1995 by Capriccio.
Works
- Operettas
- 1931: Die Dubarry
- 1932: Die Journalisten
- 1934: Lady Fanny and The Servant Problem
- 1934: Liebe auf Reisen
- 1938: Anita und der Teufel
- 1943: Der goldene Käfig
- 1950: Die Versuchung der Antonia
- Film scores
- 1933: LiebeleiLiebelei (film)Liebelei is a German film directed by Max Ophüls. The film, based on a play of the same name by Arthur Schnitzler, describes an ill-fated love affair.-Plot:...
- 1938: Tanz auf dem Vulkan
- 1938: Heimat’'
- 1939: Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht
- 1939: Bel AmiBel Ami (1939 film)Bel Ami is a German film version of Guy de Maupassant's novel Bel Ami directed by Willi Forst and released in 1939.- Plot :In Paris, in about 1900, George Duroy, just returned from Morocco, spends a night with the singer Rachel, who is rehearsing the song Bel Ami. Later at a party he tells the...
- 1940: Das Herz der KöniginDas Herz der KöniginDas Herz der Königin is a 1940 German historical film, making selective use of the life story of Mary, Queen of Scots and her execution by Queen Elizabeth I for anti-British propaganda purposed, in the context of the Second World War going on at the time.The cast included* Zarah Leander, starring...
- 1941: Ohm KrügerOhm KrügerOhm Krüger was a 1941 propaganda film, produced in Nazi Germany, about Paul Kruger in the Boer War. It was the first film to be awarded the 'Film of the Nation' award. It was re-released in 1944.-Plot:...
- 1948: Chemie und Liebe
- 1949: Wer bist du, den ich liebe
- 1933: Liebelei