Franz Schalk was an Austrian opera and symphonic conductor and teacher, born in Vienna on May 27, 1863. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Anton Bruckner in harmony and counterpoint, Joseph Hellmesberger in violin, and Julius Epstein in piano. From the age of nine, he sang in church choirs. He also trained in bookbinding, carpentry, and shoemaking.
From 1888, Schalk served as a music director in Reichenberg, then worked at the Graz Opera from 1890 to 1895 and the National Theatre in Prague from 1895 to 1898. He conducted at Berlin’s Royal Opera from 1898 to 1901 and performed opera at Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera. In 1900, at Gustav Mahler’s invitation, he began working with the Vienna Court Opera, making his debut at its 350th performance of Wagner’s Lohengrin. After Hans Richter’s departure, Schalk became the opera’s principal conductor.
Schalk was appointed director of the Vienna State Opera in 1918. He shared the position with Richard Strauss from 1919 until Strauss resigned in 1924; Schalk then led the opera alone until 1929. He headed Vienna’s Society of Friends of Music from 1904 to 1921 and taught conducting at the Vienna Conservatory from 1909 to 1919.
Under Schalk’s direction, the Vienna Opera staged Pfitzner’s Palestrina, Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, and operas by Richard Strauss, including the world premiere of Die Frau ohne Schatten. Schalk conducted the premiere of Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony and championed his music. From 1917, he worked to establish the Salzburg Festival as a regular event; in 1921, he conducted a production of Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. He died in Edlach, Reichenau an der Rax, on September 3, 1931.