Leopold Hager

Leopold Hager, who celebrated his 80th birthday in 2015, hails from Salzburg, Austria, and studied conducting, organ, piano, harpsichord and composition at the famous Mozarteum in his hometown.

After holding several posts in Mainz, Linz and Cologne, he became General Music Director in Freiburg/Breisgau, then Principal Conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg and, until 1996, Music Director of the RTL Symphony Orchestra Luxembourg. Besides his extensive work as a conductor, Leopold Hager was Professor for Orchestra Conducting at the University of Music in Vienna from 1992 to 2004.

From 2005 to 2008, Leopold Hager served as Chief Conductor at the Volksoper in Vienna where he conducted new stagings of numerous operas.

As a guest, he has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the Vienna State Opera and appeared frequently at many of the world's leading opera houses, amongst them the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Semperoper Dresden, Metropolitan Opera New York, Chicago Lyric Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires and Opera Bastille Paris. Moreover, he performed at the Opéra Lyon, National Theatre Prague and the Edinburgh Festival.

A much sought-after conductor with great experience, Leopold Hager conducted leading orchestras in Europe and the USA, including Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Munich Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Staatskapelle Weimar, Orchestre National de Lille, National Symphony Orchestra Washington and Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome, where he conducted highly successful performances of  Franz Schmidt’s Book with Seven Seals. His close musical relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra is well documented by several recordings. In 2015, Leopold Hager assumed the post of Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música. He has repeatedly conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, not only in Vienna, but also in Prague and Rome.