The Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, who has died aged 80, was held in affection and respect by audiences and musicians alike. In Britain he was particularly identified with the New Philharmonia Orchestra (later the Philharmonia Orchestra) and its chorus in the late 1960s and early 70s. With it, he made some of his finest recordings: Orff's Carmina Burana (1984), Mendelssohn's Elijah (2005), Haydn's Creation (2007) and Mozart's Requiem (2007). His recording of Carmen (2004) was one of the first to restore the original spoken dialogue, though delivered by actors, and he was credited with conducting the first performance in Spain of Bach's St Matthew Passion. He also recorded the complete orchestral and stage works of Manuel de Falla and many zarzuelas.
Other associations included those with the Philadelphia Orchestra, with which he made many guest appearances over four decades, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington (1980-90), the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, where he was music director (1992-97), and the Italian RAI National Symphony Orchestra (principal conductor, 2001-07). Throughout his career, he guest-conducted top orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, but he was not rewarded with the top posts a conductor of his calibre might have deserved.
Continue reading...