Felix Slatkin (December 22, 1915 – February 8, 1963) was an American violinist and conductor.
Biography
Slatkin was born in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
to a
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish family originally named Zlotkin (though it is not certain) from areas of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
now in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.
[ "The Zlotkin/Slatkin lineage is Russian Jewish. The first Zlotkin arrival to the US was Felix's father, grandpa Chaim Peretz Zlotkin, who came to settle with relatives in St. Louis in 1913; he (or the clerk at ]Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...
) changed the name. He probably came from the town of Mogilev ow_Mohyliv-Podilskyi.html" ;"title="Mohyliv-Podilskyi.html" ;"title="ow Mohyliv-Podilskyi">ow Mohyliv-Podilskyi">Mohyliv-Podilskyi.html" ;"title="ow Mohyliv-Podilskyi">ow Mohyliv-Podilskyi from a shtetl (the Russians forced most Jews to live in villages outside of the major cities). He came to America and settled with relatives in St. Louis in 1913. In 1923, his father came over and lived in St. Louis." He began studying the violin at the age of nine with Isadore Grossman. He began working professionally at the age of ten and won a scholarship to the
Curtis Institute
The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship.
Hi ...
, where he studied violin with
Efrem Zimbalist
Efrem Zimbalist Sr. ( – February 22, 1985) was a concert violinist, composer, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music.
Early life
Efrem Zimbalist Sr. was born on April 9, 1888, O. S., equivalent to April 21, 1889, in the Greg ...
and conducting with
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 t ...
.
At age 17 he joined the
St. Louis Symphony
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...
and formed a chamber orchestra of young musicians. In 1935 he won a competition which included a solo appearance with the
Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (HBO) is a symphony orchestra which is managed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and plays the vast majority of its performances at the Hollywood Bowl.
John Mauceri led the orchestra from its founding in 199 ...
and
Jose Iturbi
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
* Jose ben Abin
* Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Galile ...
. Around this time he met cellist
Eleanor Aller
Eleanor Aller (Slatkin) (May 20, 1917 – October 12, 1995) was an American cellist and founding member, with her husband, Felix Slatkin, of the Hollywood String Quartet.
Life and career
Born in New York City, she was the daughter of cellist Gre ...
, also of Russian Jewish extraction,
whom he later married. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he served his country as a musician at the
Santa Ana Air Force Base and as a conductor of the Army Air Force Tactical Command Orchestra, an organization that raised over $100 million in war bonds.
He settled in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and accepted the post of
concertmaster
The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...
for
Twentieth Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...
Studios, performing numerous violin solos in motion pictures such as ''
How Green Was My Valley
''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own persona ...
'' and ''
How to Marry a Millionaire
''How to Marry a Millionaire'' is a 1953 American screwball comedy film directed by Jean Negulesco and written and produced by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays ''The Greeks Had a Word for It'' (1930) by Zoe Akins and ''Loc ...
''. In 1939 he founded the highly acclaimed
Hollywood String Quartet, which produced over 21 albums for
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
and toured the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including a special appearance in 1957 for the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
. In 1958, the quartet won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for
Best Classical Performance-Orchestra from the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous f ...
for its recording of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's
Op. 130.
His conducting career included his founding of the Concert Arts Orchestra and appearances with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra. He was
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
's concertmaster and conductor of choice during the
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
years of the 1950s. He made over 25 recordings with these orchestras, also on the Capitol label, including a recording of
Offenbach’s ''
Gaîté Parisienne
''Gaîté Parisienne'' (literally, "Parisian Gaiety") is a 1938 ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine (1896-1979) to music by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) arranged and orchestrated many decades later by Manuel Rosenthal (1904-2003) in collabo ...
'' (a ballet arranged by
Manuel Rosenthal
Manuel Rosenthal (18 June 1904 – 5 June 2003) was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerable list of c ...
), which won a Grammy Award in 1958. He also made over a dozen recordings for
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...
establishing “The Fantastic Strings, Fantastic Fiddles, Fantastic Percussion, and Fantastic Brass of Felix Slatkin.” In 1962, his recording entitled ''Hoedown'' won a Grammy nomination. In 1995, the Hollywood Quartet won the London Grammaphone award for their recording of
Schoenberg’s ''
Verklärte Nacht
''Verklärte Nacht'' (''Transfigured Night''), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899. Composed in just three weeks, it is considered his earliest important work. It was inspired by Richard Dehmel's p ...
'' and
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
’s
Quintet in C Major.
Felix Slatkin died from a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
at the age of 47.
Family
Felix's son
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer.
Early life and education
Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...
is the conductor of the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...
, and his other son,
Frederic Zlotkin (who uses the original Russian form of the family name), is principal cellist for the
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
and cellist of the Lyric Piano Quartet. He has three grandchildren, including film music composer
Daniel Slatkin
Daniel Alexander Slatkin (born May 16, 1994) is an American composer, conductor, multi-instrumentalist and music producer known for his film scores, television scores and concert works. At the age of 23, Slatkin's feature film debut was premiered ...
.
References
External links
The Felix Slatkin WebsiteFelix Slatkin - Verve Records*
The Slatkin Family Collection University of Colorado
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slatkin, Felix
1915 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century classical violinists
20th-century American male musicians
American classical violinists
Male classical violinists
American male conductors (music)
American male violinists
American music arrangers
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Classical musicians from Missouri
Concertmasters
Grammy Award winners
Jewish American classical musicians
Jewish classical violinists
Liberty Records artists
Musicians from St. Louis
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American violinists