Frühbeck de Burgos, Rafael

b. 1933, Burgos

   Conductor

   One of Spain's most distinguished and internationally well-known conductors, Frühbeck de Burgos was appointed musical director of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in 1991, general musical director of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, in 1992 and musical director of the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, in 1994. He had begun his musical studies in Spain, studying piano, violin and harmony in Bilbao and composition under Julio Gómez at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Madrid. Between 1953 and 1956 he was director of music for the army. Subsequently, he attended the School of Music at Munich for specialized courses in conducting under Lessing and Eichorn, and was appointed director of the Municipal Orchestra of Bilbao in 1958. Then in 1962 he became director of the National Orchestra of Spain, a post which he held until 1978, though he was already much in demand abroad, acting as general musical director of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra from 1966 to 1971, and musical director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1974 to 1976. He was principal guest conductor for many leading orchestras abroad, holding an appointment with the New Philharmonia in London between 1969 and 1973, with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington DC from 1980 to 1990, and with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, becoming its honorary conductor in 1991. A wide range of recordings includes Falla's Atlántida, La vida breve and The Three-Cornered Hat, Orff's Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Mozart's Requiem. Frühbeck de Burgos" services to music were recognized by the award of the Grand Cross, Order of Civil Merit by the Spanish government, an honorary doctorate from the University of Navarre in 1994, and the Gold Medal of the City of Vienna in 1995.

   See also: music; opera; orchestras

   EAMONN RODGERS