Antal Doráti (, , ; 9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943.

Biography

Antal Doráti was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

to a Jewish family. His father Alexander Doráti was a violinist with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and his mother Margit Kunwald was a piano teacher. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...

and Leó Weiner for composition and

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

for piano. His links with Bartók continued for many years: he conducted the world premiere of Bartók's Viola Concerto, as completed by Tibor Serly, with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1949, with William Primrose as the soloist. He made his conducting debut in 1924 with the Budapest Royal Opera. As well as composing original works, he compiled and arranged pieces by

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

for the

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

'' Graduation Ball'' (1940), premiered by the Original Ballet Russe in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, with himself on the conductor's podium. For Ballet Theatre (later renamed

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

) he created scores for the ballets ''

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" ( ) is a French Folklore, folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in . The tale is about a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives an ...

'' (1941) from music by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

and '' The Fair at Sorochinsk'' (1943) from music by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

. His autobiography, ''Notes of Seven Decades'', was published in 1979. In 1983, Doráti was appointed an honorary

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE). His wife was Ilse von Alpenheim, an Austrian pianist. Doráti died at the age of 82 in Gerzensee, Switzerland.

Career

Doráti held posts as principal conductor of the following orchestras: * Ballet Russe, Music Director (1937–1941). * Ballet Theatre orchestra (1941–1945). *

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra tr ...

(1945–1948) * Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1949–1960) *

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. The ...

(1963–1966), which bid him a fond farewell playing his ''Symphony in Five Movements'' and his ''Madrigal Suite''. * Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (1966–74), with which he recorded his ''Symphony No. 1'' and his ''Symphony No. 2, "Querela Pacis"'' on the BIS label. He took that orchestra on its first international tours. *

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly ...

in Washington, D.C. (1970–1977), which he rescued from bankruptcy and a players' strike. *

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

(1975–1979) *

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

(1977–1981)

Recordings

He made his first recording with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

for the recording label His Master's Voice. This was later transferred to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

with whom HMV were for some time associated. Over the course of his career Doráti made over 600 recordings. With the Philharmonia Hungarica, Doráti was the second conductor to record the complete symphonies of

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

(the first complete recorded edition was conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, but it had a very limited release). He also recorded an unprecedented cycle of

's operas and Ottorino Respighi's ''

Ancient Airs and Dances ''Ancient Airs and Dances'' () is a set of three orchestral suites by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, freely transcribed from original pieces for lute. In addition to being a renowned composer and conductor, Respighi was also a notable musico ...

'', Suites 1, 2 and 3.Mercury 434 304-2, 6/1958 Doráti became especially well known for his recordings of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's music. He was the first conductor to record all three of Tchaikovsky's ballets – ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', '' The Sleeping Beauty'' and ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' – complete. The albums were recorded in mono in 1954 and 1955, for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

released on CD by The Doráti Society, with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (later renamed the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...

), as part of their famous "Living Presence" series. All three ballets were at first issued separately, but were later re-issued in a 6-LP set. Dorati did re-record ''Swan Lake'' eleased on CD by Universal Mercury but he made a stereo recording of ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (complete) with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam for Philips Classics Records, and two complete recordings in stereo of ''The Nutcracker'', one with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

(again for Mercury), and the other with the Concertgebouw Orchestra for Philips – all this within a span of about twenty-seven years. He also recorded all four of Tchaikovsky's orchestral suites with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and he was the first conductor to make a recording of Tchaikovsky's "1812" Overture (featuring the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra) with real cannons, brass band, and church bells, first in mono in 1954 and then in stereo in 1958. Both the mono and stereo "1812" versions sold over one million copies, and were awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. He also recorded all six of Tchaikovsky's symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra. Other prominent composers in Doráti's recording career were

and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

. His comprehensive series of Bartók's orchestral works for Mercury have been brought together on a 5-CD set. He also made the first stereo recording of Léo Delibes' '' Coppélia'', with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. An album set of Wagner's '' Der fliegende Holländer'' is also among Doráti's popular recordings. In 1969, he made the world premiere recording of Sibelius's tone poem '' Luonnotar'', with Gwyneth Jones as soprano soloist. In 1973 he conducted the world premiere recording of

Max Bruch Max Bruch (6 January 1838 – 2 October 1920) was a German Romantic Music, Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin ...

's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, which was written in 1912 but only rediscovered in 1971. In 1969, with the

Stockholm Philharmonic The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Stockholm Concert Hall, Konserthuset. History ...

Dorati conducted the first recording of the Symphony No. 7 of Swedish composer Allan Pettersson, of which he was the dedicatee. He made

digital recording In digital recording, an audio signal, audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or Color, chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is s ...

s, for English

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

(released in the U.S. on the London label), with the

and the

and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for Philips. One of these, the recording of Stravinsky's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, received the coveted French award Grand Prix du Disque.

References

External links

*Antal Dorát
official website
*
Antal Dorati Centenary Society
3 November 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorati, Antal 1906 births 1988 deaths Composers from Budapest Pupils of Zoltán Kodály Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Hungarian composers Hungarian male composers 20th-century composers 20th-century British musicians 20th-century conductors (music) Hungarian male conductors (music) Ballet conductors Hungarian expatriates in England Hungarian expatriates in Switzerland Hungarian emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Swedish male musicians Chief conductors of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Principal conductors of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Music directors of the National Symphony Orchestra Principal conductors of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Music directors of the Minnesota Orchestra Music directors of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Music directors of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Biography

Career

Recordings

See also

References

Further reading

External links