Felix Slatkin (December 22, 1915 – February 8, 1963) was an American violinist and conductor.

Biography

Slatkin was born in St. Louis, Missouri 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""T ...

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 inva ...

. "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 mil ...

) 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 to ...

. 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 and Jose Iturbi. 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 Greg ...

, 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 opposi ...

, 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 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 of Walt Dis ...

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 ' ...

''. 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 not ...

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 F ...

. 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 pr ...

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 academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

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 classic ...

'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 " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

'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), 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 ma ...

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 ...

, 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.

References

External links

The Felix Slatkin Website

Felix 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