LUKAS, VIKTOR

Viktor Lukas was born in 1931 and studied with Friedrich Högner and Karl Richter in Munich and also with Marcel Dupré at the Paris Conservatoire, a strong influence on him. He completed his training as a conductor under Fritz Lehmann, studied musicology at Munich University and was a prize-winner as an organist in the Munich ARD Competition and other international contests. In 1960 he became director of church music of the Bayreuth Stadtkirche and in the following year established the Bayreuth Organ Week, from which Musica Bayreuth developed. In 1975 he became professor of organ at the Cologne Musikhochschule and served at the same time as organist of the Gürzenich, later the Cologne Philharmonic, the organ of which was his conception. Viktor Lukas has had a successful career as an organist and as a conductor, with appearances throughout Europe, in the United States and throughout the former Soviet Union, as far afield as China. With a repertoire centring on the music of J.S. Bach, Max Reger and other German romantics, his performances have won acclaim in major international centres of music. He also appears regularly as organist with the Cologne Philharmonic and with the Lukas Consort. He has a number of recordings to his credit and in 1993 was awarded the Bayreuth and Oberfrankenstiftung Culture Prize.

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com
CANNABICH: Symphonies Nos. 59, 63, 64, 67 and 68	8.553960