![Artur Bodanzky at the Metropolitan Opera in 1915](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Artur_Bodanzky_at_the_Metropolitan_Opera_in_1915.jpg)
Artur Bodanzky (also written as Artur Bodzansky) (16 December 1877 – 23 November 1939) was an Austrian-American
conductor particularly associated with the operas of
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
. He conducted Enrico Caruso's last performance at the Metropolitan Opera House on Christmas Eve 1920.
![Artur Bodanzky Gravesite 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Artur_Bodanzky_Gravesite_2010.JPG)
The son of Jewish merchants, Bodanzky studied the
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
and composition with
Alexander Zemlinsky
Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher.
Biography
Early life
Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton S ...
Bodanzky then became conducting assistant to
Gustav Mahler in Vienna, later going on to jobs in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, the Neues Deutsches Theater in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
(August 1907), where he was briefly a colleague of
Otto Klemperer
Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...
and
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
. In 1915 he emigrated to the United States to work for the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
, being replaced at Mannheim by
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...
. He was head of German repertory at the Met, being accepted by
Arturo Toscanini on the recommendation of
Ferruccio Busoni. In 1921 he was engaged by the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
as a guest conductor. In 1928, Bodanzky announced his resignation from the Met and was replaced by
Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock (, ; in Kraków in New York City) was an American conductor.
Career
Early years
He worked at the State Theatre in Darmstadt, where, on , he conducted '' Hagith'' by Karol Szymanowski, and at the State Opera in Wiesbaden, w ...
. However, Rosenstock received such criticism in the press that he himself resigned almost immediately on medical advice, and Bodanzky was rehired, and remained at the Met until his death in 1939. He was approached by
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...
to conduct at
Covent Garden in 1936, but his requested fee of £250 for each performance was considered exorbitant.
Conducting style and critical reception
When he was appointed to his position at Mannheim Bodanzky was praised as a "mature and diligent" conductor" with "only one deficiency: a certain heavy-handedness, a predilection for ''
ritardando
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
''".
[Beaumont (2000)]
p. 167
/ref> However, later in his career at the Met Bodanzky became "notorious for his rapid tempi, particularly in Wagner". Bodanzky reputedly introduced more cuts in operas he prepared than many other contemporary conductors, and it was sometimes suggested that he was eager to
finish the opera in time to play cards. H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
criticized his abilities as a symphonic conductor, saying that "he gave an impression of being unfamiliar with what he was there to direct".
Many recordings survive of Bodanzky's Met broadcasts (some of which, for legal reasons, are not available in the United States). These include the very earliest Met broadcasts to survive, from 1933 and 1934, featuring substantial fragments of soprano Frida Leider in ''Die Walküre
(; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...
'' and ''Tristan und Isolde
''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...
''. From the recordings, it becomes apparent that Bodanzky's tempi fluctuate greatly, sometimes very fast, sometimes quite slow. In this practice, he is not far from the live recordings of such contemporaries as Albert Coates, Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to ...
, and Furtwängler. As to the matter of cuts, it was the almost invariable practice in opera houses outside Bayreuth at that time. Bodanzky compares favorably with both Furtwängler and Reiner in this respect. In 1944, Szell gave a broadcast performance of ''Die Walküre'' which has been reissued on CD and which, as regards fast tempi and severity of cuts, is comparable to anything of Bodanzky's.
Frida Leider praised Bodanzky's "outstanding artistry" in her autobiography, written after Bodanzky's death. Arturo Toscanini, who had supported Bodansky's appointment to the Met, was reportedly saddened by his death.
Family
Artur was the brother of the noted journalist and playwright Robert Bodanzky.
References
Bibliography
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External links
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodanzky, Artur
American conductors (music)
American male conductors (music)
Austrian conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
Austrian Jews
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States
Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Conductors of the Metropolitan Opera
Jewish classical musicians
Jewish American classical musicians
1877 births
1939 deaths