Heinrich Schiff, Austrian cellist, Died at 65

  Artists

Heinrich Schiff was born on November 18, 1951, in Gmunden, Austria and died on December 23, 2016 in Wien.

He was an Austrian cellist and conductor.

Heinrich Schiff studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971.

Schiff studied conducting with Hans Swarovsky and made his conducting debut in 1986.

He was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996 and recorded with them for the NMC label.

Heinrich Schiff also held chief conductorships with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra in Copenhagen, Denmark(1996–2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur.

During 2004, Heinrich Schiff was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and served in the post from 2005 to 2008.

Heinrich Schiff stood down from the post in 2008 for health reasons.

He plays the “Mara” Stradivarius (1711) and “Sleeping Beauty” made by Montagnana in Venice in 1739.

Heinrich Schiff’s recording of the Bach Cello Suites won prizes, and his recording of the Shostakovich concertos won the Grand Prix du Disque.

Schiff’s recording of the Brahms Double Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Sawallisch won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis.

There are composers who have written cello concertos for Schiff include John Casken and Friedrich Cerha.

His others students are Rudi Spring, Gautier Capuçon, Richard Harwood and Natalie Clein.

Heinrich Schiff passed away at 65 years old.