Theo Mackeben

Theo Mackeben, born 5 January 1897 in Preußisch Stargard, Westpreußen, died 10 January 1953 in Berlin, was a German pianist, conductor, and composer, particularly of film music. Life and career From 1916 to 1920 Mackeben studied violin and piano at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, as well as taking lessons from Jules de Westheim. In the 1930s he composed music for stage plays and over 50 films, including some directed by Max Ophüls, Gustaf Gründgens, and Willy Forst. After the war, he wrote a piano concerto and a Sinfonische Ballade for cello and orchestra, while also being conductor at the Metropol-Theater. Recordings As a conductor, Mackeben’s recordings from the late 1920s through the 1930s include extracts from Die Dreigroschenoper (in 1930 in conjunction with the film soundtrack with Lotte Lenya) and Die Dubarry, Scassola’s Laendische Suite, Mendelssohn’s ‘Spring Song’, and fantasies from Smetana’s Bartered Bride, Zeller’s Der Vogelhändler, Verdi’s La traviata, Weill’s Mahagonny and Suppé’s Die schöne Galathée, on labels such as Telefunken and Berlin. A LP selection of Mackeben’s music was recorded in 1980 by Das Grosse Orchester Willi Stech on the HGBS label, and in 1995 a CD b