Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military service in the Spanish Army before graduating from the Hochschule für Musik in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Frühbeck was principal conductor of various orchestras around the world, starting with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra from 1958 to 1962, then moving on to the Spanish National Orchestra,

Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese symphony orchestra administratively based in Tokyo. The orchestra primarily performs concerts in Tokyo at the Suntory Hall, but also gives concerts at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall and also performs in Yokohama at the Yokoha ...

of Tokyo and many others. Throughout his career Frühbeck de Burgos recorded on a number of

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affixed to ...

. He was a member of the Academy of Fine Arts and History ''Institución Fernán González''. His honours include the 2011 Conductor of the Year award from ''Musical America''.

Early life

Born in

, Spain, Frühbeck came from a family of German ancestry. His father had been wounded in World War I, and during his employment after the war for the Spanish section of a German company, decided to settle in Spain in order to reduce the need to travel. He then sent for his fiancée in Germany, and the couple reunited in Spain. Frühbeck's mother introduced him to the violin, and he had become concertmaster of the local orchestra by age 14. As a youth, he continued

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

studies, along with

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

, at the conservatories of

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. He first took up conducting while on military service in the Spanish Army. He graduated summa cum laude from the Hochschule für Musik in

in conducting and won the

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

Prize.

Career

Frühbeck was principal conductor of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra from 1958 to 1962. During this time, the orchestra's manager persuaded Frühbeck to use a name that would more clearly indicate his Spanish identity. He subsequently took the professional surname ''Frühbeck de Burgos'' as his artist's name, to include the name of his birth city. He served as principal conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra from 1962 to 1978. Outside Spain, Frühbeck de Burgos served as ''Generalmusikdirektor'' of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra (1966–1971),

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the Rundfunkorchester Berlin, the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

and chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony. He also was principal guest conductor for various

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s in Europe, Japan, and the United States, including the

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 ...

of Washington, DC, from 1980 to 1988. He made his American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in February 1969. From 1980 to 1983, he was principal conductor of the

of Tokyo. From 2001 to 2007, Frühbeck de Burgos was principal conductor of the

RAI National Symphony Orchestra The RAI National Symphony Orchestra () is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company RAI. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Piazza Rossaro in Turin. Its concerts are broadcast on Ra ...

. He was music director of the Dresden Philharmonic from 2004 to 2011. In January 2011, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Frühbeck de Burgos as the Creative Director of its Masterworks Series of concerts, starting with the 2011–12 season. He held the post for two seasons, from 2011 to 2013.

Later life

In February 2011, the

Danish National Symphony Orchestra The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO; ), is a Danish orchestra based in Copenhagen. The DNSO is the principal orchestra of DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). The DRSO is based at the Koncerthuset () concert hall in Copenhagen. Histo ...

announced the appointment of Frühbeck de Burgos as its principal conductor, as of the 2012–2013 season, with an initial contract of three years through 2015. However, on 4 June 2014, he resigned as chief conductor of the orchestra, with immediate effect. In parallel, Frühbeck de Burgos announced his retirement from conducting and that he had cancer. His final concert as a conductor had been in Washington, DC, on 14 March 2014, with the National Symphony Orchestra. Frühbeck de Burgos died on 11 June 2014 in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, Spain. He was buried in his home town of Burgos. He was survived by his wife, María del Carmen Martínez de Frühbeck, whom he married in 1959, and his two children, Rafael Frühbeck Martínez and Gema Frühbeck Martínez.

Recognition

Frühbeck de Burgos recorded on a number of

, where his recordings include

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

's ''

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

'', '' Paulus'' the

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

'' Requiem'',

Carl Orff Carl Heinrich Maria Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, who composed the cantata ''Carmina Burana (Orff), Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Orff Schulwerk, Schulwerk were influential for ...

's '' Carmina Burana'', and

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...

's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

.'' He was known as well for his recording of the complete works of Manuel de Falla and a series of complete zarzuela recordings. Frühbeck orchestrated a suite from Isaac Albéniz's '' Suite española'' and conducted the New Philharmonia Orchestra in a commercial recording of this arrangement. His work in contemporary music included conducting the world premiere production of

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...

's opera ''Goya''. He was a member of the Academy of Fine Arts and History ''Institución Fernán González''. His honours include the 2011 Conductor of the Year award from ''Musical America''.

References

External links

*
Columbia Artists Management biography of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

El Asere.com page on Frühbeck de Burgos
* * from '' La vida breve'' of Manuel de Falla, performed by dancer Nuria Pomares and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducting, in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, 6 June 2009
Institución Fernán González, "Miembros de la Institución Fernán González"

zarzuela.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Fruhbeck De Burgos, Rafael 1933 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Spanish classical composers 20th-century male composers 21st-century Spanish classical composers 20th-century Spanish conductors (music) 21st-century Spanish conductors (music) Deaths from cancer in Spain Musicians from Castile and León University of Music and Theatre Munich alumni Madrid Royal Conservatory alumni Music directors (opera) People from Burgos Spanish male classical composers Spanish male conductors (music) Spanish people of German descent 20th-century Spanish male musicians 21st-century Spanish male musicians Chief conductors of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Chief conductors of the Vienna Symphony Music directors of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Chief conductors of the Dresden Philharmonic