Walter Herbert

Vocation

Lifestyle

Notable

American conductor and impresario of German birth, and also a world champion at contract bridge. The "Herbert Negative" is a bridge convention advocated by Walter Herbert, based on the idea that a negative response in a variety of situations can be made by making the cheapest possible suit response, e.g. as a response to a forcing two-bid. He first gained experience as conductor in Germany and Switzerland, and was later appointed chief conductor at the Vienna Volksoper (1931–1938). He migrated to the United States, and became an American citizen in 1944. Herbert was director of Opera in English (San Francisco, 1940–1943) and the first general director of the New Orleans Opera Association (1943-1954). He founded the Houston Grand Opera in 1955, where he remained as both general director and conductor until 1972. He founded the San Diego Opera in 1965, and was its general director and conductor from 1969 until his death. At the bridge table in the 1930s, Herbert was one member of the Austria national team led by Paul Stern. The team won four of the first six European teams championships, with Herbert playing in 1933 and 1937. The 1937 field included two teams from the United States and doubled as the first world championship tournament. He died on 14 September 1975, aged 77. Link to Wikipedia biography