With profound sadness and heavy hearts, the Belgrade Philharmonic informs our colleagues, our audience, and the Serbian public that Gabriel Feltz passed away suddenly on August 29, 2025, at the University Hospital in Essen
OBITUARY
by Belgrade Philharmonic
Gabriel Feltz
(1971 – 2025)
The untimely loss of our beloved and long-standing Chief Conductor is a tremendous blow not only to the Belgrade Philharmonic but to Serbian culture as a whole.
In just 54 years of life, Gabriel Feltz left an indelible mark on the global stage as one of Germany’s most prominent conductors, with a versatile career spanning both opera and symphonic repertoire. From 2001 to 2005, he served as General Music Director in Altenburg-Gera, and from 2004 to 2013 as General Music Director of the Stuttgart Philharmonic. He was General Music Director of the Dortmund Opera and Chief Conductor of the Dortmund Philharmonic from the 2013/14 season until 2024/25, and in 2024, he took over as Music Director in Kiel. Feltz assumed the post of Chief Conductor of our Belgrade Philharmonic in 2017, to the delight of our musicians and all colleagues, who instantly gained not only a musical leader, but a close friend and ally. With our orchestra, he quickly began to achieve great success, celebrating each triumph only briefly before passionately and tirelessly devising new and greater challenges – with the same energy and persistence with which he stood up for and defended the Belgrade Philharmonic in its most difficult moments.
As soon as he took the helm of the orchestra, out of respect for his colleagues and for Serbian culture as a whole, Gabriel Feltz immediately began learning Serbian, winning the hearts of people across the country and becoming a favourite of the local media, with whom he insisted on speaking in Serbian. Beyond the Philharmonic, he adored Belgrade, as well as Serbian art and culture, which he absorbed with enthusiasm. Feltz approached every concert with childlike joy, transforming into a superhero during performances, offering the audience an unforgettable sense of elation, and then modestly accepting their congratulations, having left his entire being on the stage.
With Gabriel Feltz, the Belgrade Philharmonic entered a completely new phase of development. He has earned his place in its century-long history as one of its most successful and important Chief Conductors. Under Feltz, the Philharmonic rose to the ranks of the world’s “heavyweight” orchestras, dramatically expanding its repertoire and significantly elevating its performance standards to a level of true excellence. More than anything, however, Gabriel brought an irrepressible joy of music-making, despite the “German” discipline. He was the spiritus movens of the Philharmonic musicians, their steadfast support and a synonym for safety and trust. In recognition of his love, selflessness and dedication, the Philharmonic’s audience literally adored him – and made sure he knew it. Gabriel often proudly remarked that Belgrade boasts a first-rate orchestra on a global level and the best audience in the world.
With Feltz, the Belgrade Philharmonic performed outdoors for the very first time, brought opera to the concert stage, organised special musical conversations, and introduced new trends in contemporary music. An unrivalled erudite, Feltz was a conductor of vast scope and grand ideas, through which he expressed his deep admiration for the works of composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Wagner, Strauss, Rachmaninoff…
In the Belgrade Philharmonic, he found his ideal partner for breaking established norms, reaching the highest artistic peaks through numerous marathon undertakings. As joint Chief Conductor, he united the Dortmund and Belgrade Philharmonics in the performance of the “Beethoven Marathon”, all nine symphonies in a single day, culminating in a unique “Ode to Joy” that brought together not only the two orchestras, but two cultures, in a powerful European message delivered in concert marathons in Dortmund and Novi Sad in 2022. This was followed by unforgettable Brahms and Mozart marathons at Kolarac. Still, no one could have foreseen that the triumphant Rachmaninoff Marathon in Dortmund this June 2025 – for which he once again united the Dortmund and Belgrade Philharmonics – would be the final work of this great conductor’s life.
Dearest Gabriel, it will take immense strength to come to terms with your departure, but what you have given us will live forever in our music. You gave us a new perspective, a firm self-confidence for which we will continue to fight, and an endless well of love that will warm us with every note we play. We will always have our Bells, our Tosca, our Eroica, Bruckner’s Seventh, literally every Mahler we performed… Although finite, that list is vast – and eternal.