Dimitris Mitropoulos


Nikos Skalkottas and Dimitris Mitropoulos

Dimitris Mitropoulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος) (March 1, 1896 – November 2, 1960) was a Greek conductor, pianist, and composer who spent most of his career in the United States.

Life

Mitropoulos was born in Athens, the son of Yannis and Angeliki Mitropoulos. His father owned a leather goods shop at No. 15, St Marks Street, and Dimitris was born on February 18th, 1896. His precise birth date, however, is a matter of some ambiguity. Most American sources list it as March 1st, 1896 and this is the date the conductor himself always gave in his later interviews. The former date was given in many of his early interviews and program notes. Part but not all of the inconsistency may be explained by the fact that Greece only adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1924.

He was musically precocious, demonstrating his abilities at an early age. From the age of eleven to the age of fourteen, when Mitropoulos was in secondary school, he would host and preside over informal musical gatherings at his house every Saturday afternoon. His earliest acknowledged composition - a sonata for violin and piano, now lost - dates from this period.

He studied music at the Athens Conservatoire as well as in Brussels and Berlin, with Ferruccio Busoni among his teachers. From 1921 to 1925 he assisted Erich Kleiber at the Berlin State Opera and then took a number of posts in Greece. At a 1930 concert with the Berlin Philharmonic, he played the solo part of a piano concerto and conducted the orchestra from the keyboard, becoming one of the first modern musicians to do so.

Mitropoulos made his U.S. debut in 1936 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and in subsequent years he settled in the country, becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1946. From 1937 to 1949, he served as the principal conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, after which he worked with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He became the Philharmonic's principal conductor in 1951 and left in 1957 to be replaced by Leonard Bernstein, to whom he had served as a mentor. He introduced many works by Gustav Mahler, including his 6th Symphony. Many of his live performances are now available on CD and are well worth investigating.

In addition to his orchestral career, Mitropoulos was an equally important force in the operatic repertoire. He conducted opera extensively in Italy and from 1954 until his death in 1960 was the principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, although the Met did not officially use that title at the time. His musically incisive and dramatically vivid performances of Puccini, Verdi, Strauss and others remain models of the opera conductor's art.

He was noted for having a photographic memory (which enabled him to conduct without a score, even during rehearsals) and for his monk-like life style due to his deeply religious beliefs (Greek Orthodox).

He died in Milan, Italy at the age of 64, while rehearsing Gustav Mahler's 3rd Symphony.

Dimitris Mitropoulos

He died in Milan, Italy at the age of 64, while rehearsing Gustav Mahler's 3rd Symphony.

Impact on the music profession

Mitropoulos was noted as a champion of modern music, such as that by the members of the Second Viennese School. He wrote a number of pieces for orchestra and solo works for piano, and also arranged some of Johann Sebastian Bach's organ works for orchestra. In addition he was very influential in encouraging Leonard Bernstein's interest in conducting performances of Mahler's symphonic works. He also premiered and recorded a piano concerto of Ernst Krenek as soloist (available on CD), and works by composers in the U.S. such as Roger Sessions and Peter Mennin. In 1952 he commissioned American composer Philip Bezanson to write a piano concerto, which he premiered the following year.

His compositions include a piano sonata and other works.

Books

  • Arfanis, Stathis A. The Complete Discography of Dimitri Mitropoulos. Athens: Irinna S.A., 1990. ISBN 9607110005.
  • Mitropoulos, Dimitri, and Katsoyanis, Katy: A correspondence, 1930–1960. New York: Martin Dale, 1973. Introductions by Louis Biancolli and Katy Katsoyanis. LC Number 73075338.
  • Trotter, William R. Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1995. ISBN 0931340810.

References

Dimitris Mitropoulos

Time November 25, 1957

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