* En anglais uniquement
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, eminent Spanish conductor, was born to a Spanish mother and a German father. He was educated at the Music Academy of Bilbao and the Munich Conservatory, and completed his studies at the University of Madrid. His first post as conductor was with the Municipal Orchestra of Bilbao. In 1962,
Frühbeck de Burgos began a lifelong association with the
National Orchestra of Spain, and was its chief conductor from that time until 1978. His international reputation began with the success of his first appearance with the
Philadelphia Orchestra. He served as music director for the Montreal Symphony (1974-1976), the
Dusseldorf Symphoniker (1966-1971), and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin (1992-1997).
Frühbeck de Burgos was also named chief conductor of the
Vienna Symphony and held guest conductorships with the
National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., and the
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony in Japan.
Frühbeck de Burgos recorded extensively with English Decca, EMI/Angel, IMP Classics, Chandos and Collins Classics. First and foremost, he was regarded for his interpretations of Spanish music, and recorded the major works of Falla in addition to
Rodrigo,
Montsalvatge,
Ravel, and
Granados. His recording of Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain with pianist
Alicia de Larrocha is judged the best on disc by many critics.
Frühbeck de Burgos made several recordings backing vocalist
Victoria de Los Angeles in Spanish songs and zarzuela arias for EMI. He made his own arrangement for orchestra of
Albeniz's Suite española, and it became a concert staple. Outside of Spanish music,
Frühbeck de Burgos also contributed fine recordings of
Bizet's Carmen with
Grace Bumbry and
Jon Vickers in the cast, and justly celebrated discs of
Orff's Carmina Burana,
Mozart's Requiem, and
Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. He was regarded as a sensitive and sympathetic accompanist in concerto literature, and partnered with such luminaries as violinists
Yehudi Menhuin and
Nathan Milstein, pianists
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli,
Louis Lortie, and clarinetist
Karl Leister.
Frühbeck de Burgos was also a renowned interpreter of the music of
Mendelssohn and made recordings of Elijah and the complete incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which have been critically praised.
Frühbeck de Burgos never recorded in the work of
Mahler, but his broadcasts of
Mahler's symphonies were highly respected, and in 1996 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the International Gustav Mahler Society in Vienna. From the late 1990s, he toured the world with the
National Orchestra of Spain as its conductor emeritus, and had also been principal conductor of the
Danish National Symphony Orchestra until he announced his full retirement due to health reasons in June 2014, passing away shortly thereafter.