Eduard van Beinum (September 3, 1901 – April 13, 1959)
suffered a fatal heart attack on April 13, 1959 on the Concertgebouw podium
while rehearsing the orchestra for a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.
Joseph Keilberth (April 19, 1908 – July 20, 1968) a German conductor who specialized in opera,
died in Munich after collapsing while conducting Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde in exactly the same place as Felix Mottl had done in 1911.
Paul Kletzki whilst conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jean-Baptiste Lully survived the performance:
while conducting his Te Deum
in celebration of the Kings recovery from an illness,
he vehemently struck his foot with the sharp-pointed cane used to pound out the beat,
gangrene set in, and he died of blood poisoning. Ironic!
Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn-Hensel, sister of Felix,
died in Berlin in 1847 of complications from a stroke suffered while rehearsing
The First Walpurgis Night, an oratorios by her brother.
Felix did not live much longer. Fanny died in May, Felix a few months later in November.
Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960) conducting
a rehearsal of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony at La Scala.
Austrian conductor and composer Felix Josef von Mottl (1856–1911)
was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day,
writing operas, numerous songs and some other music.
He suffered a heart attack in Munich, while conducting his 100th performance of Tristan, dying 11 days later in hospital,
but not before marrying his long-time mistress, the soprano Zdenka Fassbender.
Giuseppe Patanè (1932 – 1989) was an Italian opera conductor.
He collapsed suddenly from a heart attack while conducting a performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia
at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, on 29 May 1989. Patanè was taken to hospital where he died.
Giuseppe Sinopoli (1946-2001), conductor and composer,
died of a heart attack while conducting Giuseppe Verdi’s Aïda at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.
Two days later Marcello Viotti (b.1954) took over, dedicating the performance to Sinopoli’s memory.
He seems to have been a good pupil, for he too suffered a stroke during a rehearsal in Munich in February 2005.
He underwent surgery to remove the blood clot, but he never regained consciousness, dying on 16 February 2005.
German composer and conductor Georg Aloys Schmitt (1827-1902) died suddenly during a rehearsal at Dresden,
but he aged was 75.