Welcome to the official website of the
International Erich Bergel Association
Erich Bergel
Conductor and musicologist, * 1.6.1930 in Râșnov near Brașov (Romania), ✝ 3.5.1998 Ruhpolding (Germany), studied conducting (with A. Ciolan), organ (with K. Mild) and composition at the State Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca from 1950 to 1955. He began his successful conducting career as chief conductor of the state philharmonic orchestras in Grosswardein (Oradea) and Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca) and continued it as a guest conductor in Bucharest and as general music director in Herford (Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie). It reached a climax in 1971 in the concerts initiated by H. v. Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic under Bergel's baton. Subsequently, B. conducted all the elite orchestras in Europe, North and South America, Israel, Japan and South Africa with growing international prestige, whereby the main focus of his activities was in Vienna, France, England and the USA. He worked for many years as a permanent guest conductor with the symphony orchestras in Houston, Brussels and Strasbourg and as chief conductor with the BBC Wales Symphony Orchestra. From 1974 to 1980, he conducted the orchestra course and the symphony orchestra at the International Youth Festival in Bayreuth.
From 1979 he was professor of orchestral conducting and education at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin,
as well as chief conductor for life of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra from 1989.
Bergel mastered a comprehensive and varied repertoire, which centered on the symphonic music of Beethoven,
Brahms and Bruckner as well as the oratorios and masses of Bach, Handel and Mozart.
In the last years of his life, he emerged as a Bach researcher:
he wrote two books on the "Art of Fugue" by J.S. Bach,
in which he for the first time put forward the thesis of thematic bipolarity as the spiritual basis of this work and compellingly substantiated its cyclical,
organically unified overall concept and its principles of order.
In his completion of the unfinished final fugue, Bergel proved that it was possible to complete the work by following the laws of form,
structure and harmony laid down by Bach himself in the preceding sections without having to compose anything else.
With Christian Ferras
1972
With Berliner Philharmoniker
1979
With Berliner Philharmoniker
1979
With Berliner Philharmoniker
1978
With Mirella Freni
1970ies
With Bruno Gelber
1977
With Wolfgang Schneiderhan
1975
With Ralph Kirshbaum
1978
With Alexis Weissenberg
1975
With Jessey Norman and Queen Fabiola of Belgium
1979
Association
Photo Collection
History in images
Concert History
Chronological list of Erich Bergel's concert performances
Autograph Collection
Scores & Publications
Documents
Collection of Documents, Letters, Memorabilia
Competition & Events
International Erich Bergel Conducting Competition, 1st edition
News about the upcoming 3rd conducting competition
September 20261st Conducting Masterclass in memoriam Erich Bergel
The International Erich Bergel Association cordially invites applications for the
1st Conducting Masterclass in Memoriam Erich Bergel, led by world-renowned conductor and pedagogue Prof. Uroš Lajovic.
This masterclass is aimed at advanced conducting students, young professional conductors, and experienced musicians with a background in conducting.
Held in memory of the distinguished German Romanian conductor Erich Bergel (1930-1998), the course honors his artistic vision, intellectual depth,
and lasting pedagogical legacy that continues to inspire generations of musicians.
With Maestro Uroš Lajovic
Wien, Palais Ehrbar, 7 - 12 September 2025
For more information and application click here.