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Henry Warwick Braithwaite (9 January 1896 – 19 January 1971) was a New Zealand-born orchestral conductor. He worked mostly in Great Britain and was especially known for his work in opera.


Early life and family

Braithwaite was one of the youngest of a large number of children (at least 16 and as many as 22 children, but the records are inadequate) born to Joseph Braithwaite and Mary Ann Braithwaite (née Bellett) in
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. His father was later
mayor of Dunedin The Mayor of Dunedin is the head of the local government, the city council of Dunedin, New Zealand. The Mayor's role is "to provide leadership to the other elected members of the territorial authority, be a leader in the community and perform c ...
between 1905 and 1906. The family were musical – the Braithwaite family would perform
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
to friends and relatives in their 20-room house in Dunedin, and his elder sister Mabel Manson emigrated to England before he was born, where she made a considerable career as a singer. Braithwaite's brothers included John Braithwaite, who was convicted and executed for mutiny during World War I and pardoned by the New Zealand government in 2000, and
Rewi Braithwaite John Rewi Fergusson Braithwaite (25 September 1897 – 15 January 1987) was an association football player who represented New Zealand, playing in New Zealand's first ever official international. Braithwaite made his full New Zealand debut in t ...
, who played in New Zealand's first official international soccer match, against Australia in 1922. Braithwaite served briefly in the
New Zealand armed forces The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, promoti ...
during World War I. He won various competitions as both a composer and pianist and then followed his sister to England in 1916 as the Goring Thomas Compositions Scholar at the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
in London, where he studied composition and piano.


Musical career

He joined the O’Mara Opera Company as chorus master, a touring opera company run by the Irish tenor Joseph O'Mara, and with them made his debut as a conductor with Auber's ''
Fra Diavolo Fra Diavolo (lit. Brother Devil; 7 April 1771–11 November 1806), is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an "inspirational practitioner of popular insurrect ...
'' in 1919. After this he joined the
British National Opera Company The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham O ...
as a repetiteur and also in 1922 spent a year working for
Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the Un ...
at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. When Walter left to go to America,
Hans Knappertsbusch Hans Knappertsbusch (12 March 1888 – 25 October 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Knappertsbusch followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in Germ ...
was appointed to the job and immediately terminated the employment of any non-Germans working for the company. Thereafter he became the first Assistant Musical Director of 2LO, the precursor to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, and then moved to the BBC's Cardiff 5WA Station Orchestra where he conducted many of the first UK performances of
Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
's music. That orchestra was closed down when the BBC decided to centralise its efforts and put its money into the newly formed
BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
in London under
Sir Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, wi ...
. In 1931 Braithwaite joined the
Vic-Wells The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
, later the
Sadler's Wells Opera Company English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English. ...
, the company run by the fiercely autocratic
Lilian Baylis Lilian Mary Baylis CH (9 May 187425 November 1937) was an English theatrical producer and manager. She managed the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres in London and ran an opera company, which became the English National Opera (ENO); a theatre ...
, who persuaded the politicians
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and
Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
, the writers G. K. Chesterton and
John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize i ...
, the composer
Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended t ...
, and the conductor
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 raise funds for a new theatre at Sadler's Wells in Islington, where there had been a theatre since 1683. The company performed not only opera, but ballet and theatre as well: among its stars were
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
,
John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
,
Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells T ...
,
Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (n ...
,
Joan Cross Joan Cross (7 September 1900 – 12 December 1993) was an English soprano, closely associated with the operas of Benjamin Britten. She also sang in the Italian and German operatic repertoires. She later became a musical administrator, taking on ...
,
Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...
. In 1931, Braithwaite's first year, the company performed fourteen operas; the next year it performed twenty six operas. In all the company put on fifty operas between 1931 and 1939: a remarkably ambitious undertaking. Braithwaite conducted Wagner's ''Mastersingers'' and ''Lohengrin'' Beethoven's ''Fidelio'', the Mozart operas (including ''Cosi Fan Tutte'', then rarely done), Verdi's ''Don Carlos'' and a highly successful ''Falstaff'', the Puccini operas, and Ethel Smythe's ''The Wreckers''. The theatre closed down briefly when the war began but soon reopened. Braithwaite conducted Puccini's ''Tosca'' at Sadler's Wells on the afternoon of 7 September 1940.
Lawrance Collingwood Lawrance Arthur Collingwood CBE (14 March 1887 – 19 December 1982) was an English conductor, composer and record producer. Career Collingwood was born in London and attended Westminster Choir School, beginning his musical career as a choirboy a ...
conducted Gounod's ''Faust'' the same evening. That was the first night of the Blitz, and one of the worst. London was set on fire by waves of German bombs, 430 people were killed and 1,600 badly injured. Braithwaite watched the raid from the roof of the theatre. In 1940 he succeeded
George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...
as principal conductor of the
Scottish Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...
and while there oversaw the expansion of its season from a three months to six months per year. While in Glasgow he also conducted the US Army Air Force Band, the band founded by
Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...
. During the war he was also much involved in the campaign to save the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
during these years and can be seen in the film ''Battle for Music'', which documents that story. After the war he joined the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
,
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
, as Music Director of the Ballet Company where he conducted the western premiere of
Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...
's ''Cinderella'' with
Moira Shearer Moira Shearer King, Lady Kennedy (17 January 1926 – 31 January 2006), was an internationally renowned Scottish ballet, ballet dancer and actress. She was famous for her performances in Powell and Pressburger's ''The Red Shoes (1948 film), Th ...
in the title role. He also conducted operas with some of the period's greatest singers, among them
Boris Christoff Boris Christoff ( bg, Борис Кирилов Христов, Boris Kirilov Hristov, ; 18 May 1914 – 28 June 1993) was a Bulgarian opera singer, widely considered one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. Early life He was born i ...
in ''Boris Godunov'', and
Victoria de los Ángeles Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 192315 January 2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid- ...
in her debut as
Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...
's Mimi. And also a performance of ''
Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...
'' with
Astrid Varnay Ibolyka Astrid Maria Varnay (25 April 1918 – 4 September 2006) was a Swedish-born American dramatic soprano of Hungarian descent. She spent most of her career in the United States and Germany. She was one of the leading Wagnerian heroic sopranos ...
singing Aida in Italian,
Hans Hopf Hans Hopf (August 2, 1916, Nuremberg – June 25, 1993, Munich) was a German operatic tenor, one of the leading heldentenors of the immediate postwar period. He sang Walther von Stolzing in the Bayreuth Festival's ''Die Meistersinger'', in 1951 a ...
singing Radames in German and Jess Walters singing Ramphis in English. He toured Australia in 1947 as a guest conductor, with concerts in all of the mainland capital cities. In 1953, he was awarded the
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded a ...
. He was conductor of the National Orchestra of New Zealand in 1954 and then music director of the National Opera of Australia in 1954–55. In 1956 he returned to Britain as musical director of the
Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...
from 1956 to 1960, where he conducted a range of interesting and little known repertoire such as Verdi's ''
I Lombardi ''I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata'' (''The Lombards on the First Crusade'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was "very much a ...
'' and ''
La battaglia di Legnano ''La battaglia di Legnano'' (''The Battle of Legnano'') is an opera in four acts, with music by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian-language libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. It was based on the play ''La Bataille de Toulouse'' by Joseph Méry, later the c ...
'',
Boito Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, bes ...
's ''
Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was libret ...
'' and
Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
's ''
May Night ''May Night'' ( rus, Майская ночь, Mayskaya noch ) is a comic opera in three acts, four scenes, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from a libretto by the composer and is based on Nikolai Gogol's story " May Night, or the Drowned Maiden", from hi ...
'' as well as the standard repertoire. In 1960 he rejoined Sadler's Wells Opera where he conducted until his retirement in 1968. In 1970 he travelled to Australia where he conducted ''Fidelio'' with the Australian Opera Company. He was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.


Personal life and death

Braithwaite married first Phyllis Greatrex (née Bain) in 1925, with whom he had a daughter, Barbara, a nurse. Then, in 1931, he married Lorna Constance Davies with whom he had two sons, Sir
Rodric Braithwaite Sir Rodric Quentin Braithwaite, (born 17 May 1932) is a retired British diplomat and an author. Public life Braithwaite was educated at Bedales School and Christ's College, Cambridge. After his military service, he joined HM Diplomatic Service ...
, diplomat and author, and the conductor
Nicholas Braithwaite Nicholas Paul Dallon Braithwaite (born 26 August 1939, London)''International Who's Who In Classical Music'', 2003 Edition, p. 94 (Europa Publications Ltd., London, England) is an English conductor. He is the son of the conductor Warwick Brait ...
. He died in London on 19 January 1971, and was buried at Levington in Suffolk in the same grave as his three-year-old grandson Mark who had died the same year.


Legacy

His recording legacy is mainly as an accompanist to some of the greatest singers of the mid twentieth century –
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...
,
Sena Jurinac Srebrenka "Sena" Jurinac () (24 October 1921 – 22 November 2011) was a Bosnian-born Austrian operatic soprano. Biography Jurinac was born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina (then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), the daughter of a Croatia ...
,
Kirsten Flagstad Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casaz ...
,
Tito Gobbi Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation. He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's ''La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major opera ...
,
Nicola Rossi-Lemeni Nicola Rossi-LemeniHis father's last name was Rossi, but his mother wanted her family name added, "Rossi Lemeni" (without a hyphen). However, many publications and recordings hyphenate the name. (November 6, 1920 – March 12, 1991), was a ...
and
Joan Hammond Dame Joan Hilda Hood Hammond, (24 May 191226 November 1996) was an Australian operatic soprano, singing coach and champion golfer. Early life Joan Hilda Hood Hammond was born and baptised in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her father, Samuel Hood, w ...
amongst others. There are also some recordings of ballet music with the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
Orchestra which were released on the
Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
label, and there are a few recordings of BBC broadcasts of complete operas, among them Puccini's
La fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' followe ...
with Sadler's Wells and I Lombardi with the Welsh National Opera. Also active as a composer, writing two operas (including ''The Pendragon'', about King Arthur) as well as a varied collection of other pieces Braithwaite wrote the book ''The Conductor's Art'' (), published in 1952. His compositions and other papers are held in the
Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...
in
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, New Zealand. A previously unpublished autobiography, with surrounding notes and additions by Roger Flury, was issued in 2023.
The Golden Shore: an autobiography by Warwick Braithwaite
', edited and annotated by Roger Flury. Matador Publishing (2023)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, Warwick 1896 births 1971 deaths Musicians from Dunedin New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom British male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) New Zealand Symphony Orchestra people Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music 20th-century British conductors (music) New Zealand conductors (music) Male conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...