Leopold Hager, who celebrated his 85th birthday in 2020, 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. He has maintained a close connection to this orchestra, meanwhile renamed Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, and, in January 2021, has been distinguished with the title of Honorary Conductor. He also served as Chief Conductor at the Volksoper in Vienna and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música. 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.
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 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. Major operatic guest engagements of the more recent past include Deutsche Oper Berlin, Leipzig Opera, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Opéra Lyon and Opéra Nice.
On the concert podium, Leopold Hager conducted major orchestras in Europe and the USA, including Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and National Symphony Orchestra Washington. He has repeatedly conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, not only in Vienna, but also in Prague and Rome.
Leopold Hager acquired renown as a pioneering advocate of Mozart interpretation, in particular for his Salzburg concert performances: In the course of the Salzburg Mozart Week in 1979, he conducted the first complete performance ever of Il sogno di Scipione. His recordings of these works with the leading singers of the time still enjoy reference standard. Moreover, his extensive discography includes all of Mozart’s piano concerts and concert arias.