Gary Bertini | |
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| Born | (1927-05-01)May 1, 1927 |
| Died | March 17, 2005(2005-03-17) (aged 77) |
| Citizenship | Israeli |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor andComposer |
| Spouse | Rosette Bertini |
| Website | www |
Gary Bertini (Hebrew:גארי ברתיני, May 1, 1927 – March 17, 2005) was one of the most important Israeli musicians and conductors. In 1978 he was awarded theIsrael Prize for Music.
Gary Bertini was bornShloyme Golergant inBricheva,Bessarabia, then inRomania, now inDonduşeni District,Moldova. His father, K. A. Bertini (Aron Golergant), was apoet andtranslator of theRussian (Leonid Andereyev) andYiddish (A.Sutzkever,H. Leivick) literature intoHebrew, and of the Hebrew works into Yiddish. His mother Berta Golergant was aphysician andbiologist. They immigrated toPalestine in 1946. Gary studied music at the Music Teachers' College inTel Aviv and then inMilan,Italy, and at theParis Conservatoire.
Upon returning to Israel, Gary Bertini established Rinat (the Israel ChamberChoir) in 1955. He was musical advisor to theBatsheva Dance Company and composed original music for numerous productions ofHabima, the Israel national theater, and theCameri Theatre. He founded theIsrael Chamber Orchestra in 1965 and was its conductor until 1975. In 1971 he conducted the world premiere ofJosef Tal'sAshmedai at theHamburg State Opera.
Bertini was conductor of theJerusalem Symphony Orchestra from 1978 to 1986. He was also the artistic director of theIsraeli Opera from 1988 to 1997. He promoted Israeli music and helped shape it.
Bertini was hospitalized while in Paris, then transferred to a hospital inTel Hashomer, Israel. He died there on 17 March 2005 and was buried inKfar Vitkin.[1]
Bertini's work also took him outside Israel. He was music advisor to theDetroit Symphony Orchestra from 1981 to 1983 and the Principal Conductor of theCologne Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1983 until 1991. He also served as general music director of theOpern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt from 1987 to 1990, theTokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra from 1998 to 2005, and, just before he died, director of theTeatro di San Carlo inNaples. He also worked as a guest conductor with theHamburg State Opera,Scottish Opera,La Scala,Opéra National de Paris, and theBerlin Philharmonic among other organizations.[2]
Bertini's recording of the complete cycle ofMahler symphonies (EMI Classics 40238) is very well regarded.[3][4][5]
| Cultural offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Principal Conductor, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne 1983–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Music Director, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra 1998–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Music Director, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples 2004 | Succeeded by |
