Walter Weller

Walter Weller (30 November 1939 – 14 June 2015) was an Austrian-born conductor and classical violinist. He made several recordings over the years, founded his own string quartet, and led or co-led several well known orchestras and operas. Weller won multiple awards throughout his lifetime.

Life Weller was born in Vienna, Austria, where he began taking violin lessons at the age of six. He went on to study at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik and first gained renown as a prodigy on the violin. His father, also named Walter Weller, was a violinist in the Vienna Philharmonic. At age 17, Weller became a member of both the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestras. In 1961, at age 22, he became joint concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic with Willi Boskovsky, and remained in this post for 11 years.

While leading the orchestra, Weller also established and led his own string quartet, the Weller Quartet, from 1958 to 1969. In 1966, he married Elisabeth Samohyl, and the couple had a son.

Weller's first engagements as a conductor were in 1966, deputising at short notice for Karl Böhm. His conducting debut at the Vienna State Opera was in 1969, leading Die Entführung aus dem Serail. He later served as Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Duisburg, Germany, for the 1971–1972 season. From 1975 to 1978, he was principal conductor of the Niederösterreichischen Tonkünstlerorchester. In 2010, he became the first honorary conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. He also became Conductor Laureate of the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and Associate Director of the Valencia Orchestra.

In Great Britain, Weller held several principal conductorships. From 1977 to 1980, he was principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He then held the same post with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1980 to 1986. In 1992, he became principal conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra, and helped to mediate strained relations between the orchestra's musicians and management at the time. He served as the SNO's principal conductor until 1997, and subsequently became the orchestra's Conductor Emeritus.

Recordings The Weller Quartet's recordings for Decca Records included Haydn’s complete Op 33, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Berg and Shostakovich.

Weller's recording début as a conductor was with the Vienna orchestra in operatic excerpts sung by Pilar Lorengar. He was also the recipient of the Mozart Interpretationspreis, Salzburg. In Vienna, he was awarded the "Golden Beethoven Medal".

The Bank of Scotland honored Weller by printing his portrait on a special 50 pound note.