Ernest Martin Fleischmann (December 7, 1924 – June 13, 2010) was aGerman-bornAmericanimpresario who served for 30 years as executive director of theLos Angeles Philharmonic, which he upgraded to become a top-ranked orchestra. A talented musician, he chose a career on the business aspect of music, rather than a life as a conductor.
Fleischmann was born inFrankfurt am Main on December 7, 1924, to Gustav and Toni (née Koch).[1] His Jewish family fledNazi Germany and emigrated toSouth Africa. There he learned music as a teenager and made his debut as a professional conductor in 1942, when he was only 17 years old.[2] He earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from theUniversity of the Witwatersrand and received a degree in music from theUniversity of Cape Town.[3] He organized music for theJohannesburg Festival starting in 1956, for which he commissionedWilliam Walton to create theJohannesburg Festival Overture in honor of the city's 70th anniversary.[2] He marriedElsa Leviseur in 1953, who practiced as an Architect in South Africa, US and England.
In 1959, he took a position as general manager of theLondon Symphony Orchestra, spurning an offer from theCape Town Symphony Orchestra.[2] In London, he arranged for the orchestra to perform an annual season atCarnegie Hall inNew York City and commissioned works byRichard Rodney Bennett and SirArthur Bliss, in addition to exchange concerts with theIsrael Philharmonic Orchestra.[4] He left the LSO in 1967 and worked for a short time as the European director ofCBS Masterworks Records.[4]
When he became executive director of theLos Angeles Philharmonic in 1969,Zubin Mehta was conductor at the distinguishedDorothy Chandler Pavilion, but the musicians in the orchestra were not paid what they were worth. During his tenure in Los Angeles, Fleischmann more than doubled the pay for musicians and added a summer season at theHollywood Bowl.[2] In addition to improving the orchestra's financial condition, a $50 million donation fromLillian Disney that went towards the construction of theFrank Gehry-designedWalt Disney Concert Hall meant the philharmonic played in a hall with acoustics far superior to their former venue. He brought inCarlo Maria Giulini as conductor from 1978 to 1985, who was replaced byAndré Previn.[2] Previn, who had an ongoing feud with Fleischmann, left abruptly at the end of the 1989 season and would later call Fleischmann "an untrustworthy, scheming bastard".[2][4][5] Fleischmann brought inFinnEsa-Pekka Salonen in 1992, whoThe Wall Street Journal credited with transforming the orchestra into a "lean, disciplined machine".[6]VenezuelanGustavo Dudamel was hired in 2009 to succeed Salonen.[2] Fleischmann had identified Dudamel as a prodigy when he won the inauguralGustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2004, where Fleischmann and Salonen had been among the judges.[3] ReviewerMark Swed of theLos Angeles Times credited Fleischmann with having "transformed a provincial second-rank orchestra into one of the world's best".[3]
Named as general administrator and artistic director of theParis Opera in November 1985, Fleischmann turned down the post just days later.[7][8]
Described byThe New York Times as "a taskmaster and an office tyrant", Fleischmann was once described by an employee as "egocentric, completely unprincipled and yet incredibly brilliant monomaniac in music". Fleischmann also had a long-standing feud withLos Angeles Times music criticMartin Bernheimer, whose backbiting criticism had a negative effect on morale in the orchestra. Bernheimer, who won aPulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1982, called Fleischmann "ruthless, a manipulator, and very smart and very progressive".[2]
Fleischmann died at age 85 on June 13, 2010, in Los Angeles. He was survived by two daughters and a son.[2]
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