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Antal Doráti KBE (April 9, 1906 – November 13, 1988) was a conductor and composer.
Biography
Doráti was born in Budapest, his father was a violinist with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner for composition and Béla Bartók for piano. He made his conducting debut in 1924 with the Budapest Royal Opera.
He made his first recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the recording label His Master's Voice, which later became RCA. Over the course of his career Doráti made over 600 recordings.
He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1947.
Career
Doráti held posts as principal conductor of the following orchestras:
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1945-48), practically creating that orchestra from scratch
- Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1949-60)
- BBC Symphony Orchestra (1963-66), which bid him a fond farewell playing his Symphony in Five Movements and his Madrigal Suite.
- Stockholm Philharmonic (1966-70), 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 tours ever.
- National Symphony in Washington, D.C. (1970-77), which he rescued from bankruptcy and a players' strike.
- Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1977-81), restoring them to world-class status in their newly renovated Orchestra Hall.
- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1975-79)
He conducted the world premiere of Bartók's Viola Concerto (as completed by Tibor Serly) with the Minneapolis Symphony in 1949. He made many recordings, notably of pieces by Bartók and Kodály and the first complete recording of the symphonies of Joseph Haydn, with the Philharmonia Hungarica.
As well as composing original works, he arranged pieces by Johann Strauss II for the ballet Graduation Ball, as well as Offenbach's La Belle Hélčne and Bluebeard, and Mussorgsky's Fair at Sorotchinsk.
Queen Elizabeth II made Doráti an honorary Knight of the British Empire (KBE). His autobiography, Notes of Seven Decades, was published in 1979.
He died in Gerzensee, Switzerland.