Born in
Berlin, Conradi was originally intended by his father to study
theology. Instead, he was enrolled at the
Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. There he studied
harmony and composition with
Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen, director of the
Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. In 1843, he became a church organist of Invalidenhaus, Berlin, also writing his first symphony plus a
Zigeunerpolka for orchestra the same year. The latter was arranged for piano by Hungarian
pianist and composer
Franz Liszt. Conradi held various conducting appointments; these included
Stettin (1849), Berlin (1850),
Düsseldorf (1852), and
Cologne (1853), then Berlin again at such theaters as
Kroll's, the Wallner-Theater and the Victoria-Theater. Conradi probably met Liszt in the early 1840s. He served as Liszt's
copyist in
Weimar in January and February 1844, and he spent 18 months there in 1848 and 1849 at Liszt's instigation. Conradi prepared copies of the initial versions of Liszt's orchestral works, making suggestions on scoring. He also assisted Liszt in assembling a "Programme general" of all the repertory he had played during his
virtuoso years. While Conradi was an extremely hard worker, he also possessed a somewhat routine mind. When he received his appointment as
Kapellmeister in Stettin in the winter of 1849, his work at Weimar was taken over by the more imaginative
Joachim Raff. Conradi wrote eight operas, a ballet, five symphonies, overtures, and string quartets as well as dance music, songs,
vaudeville sketches,
farces and
potpourris, which were performed in garden concerts for many years. ==References==