Dimitri Mitropoulos

Conductor, composer, and pianist Dimitri Mitropoulos – born in Athens, Greece on March 1, 1896 – is considered one of the most important Greek personalities of the 20th century. At the age of 7, he performed musical arrangements on a small harmonium and piano. He attended a conservatory in 1910, and then performed his first public performance in 1913. He then began to compose his own music including works for violin, piano, and symphony. His opera Soeur Béatrice made its premiere at the Odeon in Athens in 1919. After studying in Brussels, Belgium and Berlin, Germany, he became an assistant and vocal coach for Austrian conductor Eric Kleiber from 1922 to 1924. Dimitri Mitropoulos worked as assistant then principal conductor of the Athens Conservatory Orchestra (1927-1939). Invited to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he premiered Prokofiev's Concerto No. 3, Paul Dukas' Symphony, and his own Concerto grosso from 1928. His international career began in 1932 in Paris, France with the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux and the Orchestre symphonique de Paris before taking his talents to Milan, Russia, and the United States, where he had been invited by Serge Koussevitsky to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Appointed director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1937-1949), he performed the works of Gustav Mahler, Ernst Krenek, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Paul Hindemith, composers who were overlooked at the time. In 1946, Dimitri Mitropoulos became a US citizen. In 1940, he made his first recordings which included the complete symphonies of Mahler. He collaborated with many acclaimed soloists including Rudolf Serkin, Robert Casadesus, Claudio Arrau, Josef Hoffmann, Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Ginette Neveu, William Kapell or Zino Francescatti. Between 1949 and 1957, Dimitri Mitropoulos became conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, alternating with Leopold Stokowski and then as sole principal conductor. He was a promoter of avant-garde music and conducted works by Schoenberg, Webern, Shostakovich, and the premiere of the Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck. He toured Europe and turned to opera at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1954-1960), where he succeeded Bruno Walter, conducted Maria Callas in Tosca (1956) and debuted Samuel Barber’s opera Vanessa. Dimitri Mitropoulos died of a heart attack on November 2, 1960, during rehearsals at La Scala in Milan. His recorded legacy – most of it released on Columbia and RCA Records - remains highly appreciated by music lovers. His recordings were compiled on the 69 CD box set The Complete RCA and Columbia Album Collection (2022).

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