Rafael Jeroným Kubelík,KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer.
The son of a distinguished violinist,Jan Kubelík, he was trained inPrague and made his debut with theCzech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 19. Having managed to maintain a career in Czechoslovakia under theNazi occupation, he refused to work under what he considered a "second tyranny" after theCommunistCzechoslovak coup d'état of 1948, and took refuge in Britain. He became a Swiss citizen in 1967.
Kubelík was music director of theChicago Symphony Orchestra (1950–53), musical director ofThe Royal Opera,Covent Garden (1955–58). In 1957, he conducted and recorded the world premiere ofBerlioz'sLes Troyens. From 1961 to 1979, he was music director of theBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and was a frequent guest conductor for leading orchestras in Europe and America.
As a composer, Kubelík wrote in a neo-romantic idiom. His works include five operas, three symphonies, chamber music, choral works, and songs.
Kubelík was born inBýchory,Bohemia,Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic, the day afterArchduke Ferdinand'sassassination that triggered theFirst World War. He was the sixth child of the Bohemian violinistJan Kubelík, whom the younger Kubelík described as "a kind of god to me". His mother was a Hungarian countess, Anna Julie Marie Széll von Bessenyö.[1] Kubelík studied the violin with his father, and entered thePrague Conservatory at the age of 14, studying violin, piano, composition, and conducting.[1] He graduated from the conservatory in 1933, at the age of 19; at his graduation concert he played aPaganini concerto and a composition of his own for violin and orchestra. Kubelík was also an accomplished pianist, and served as his father's accompanist on a tour of the United States in 1935.
In 1939, Kubelík became music director of theBrno Opera, a position he held until theNazis shut the company down in November 1941.[1] The Nazis allowed theCzech Philharmonic to continue operating; Kubelík, who had first conducted the orchestra when he was 19, became its principal conductor.[1] In 1943 he married the Czech violinist Ludmilla Bertlová, with whom he had one son whom they named Martin Jiri Jan Josef Frantisek Radovan Andrij Paul.[2]
In 1944, after various incidents, including one in which he declined to greet the Nazi ReichsprotektorKarl Hermann Frank with aHitler salute, along with his refusal to conductWagner during the War, Kubelík "deemed it advisable to disappear from Prague and to spend a few months undercover in the countryside so as not to fall into the clutches of theSS orGestapo".[3] Kubelík conducted the orchestra's first post-war concert in May 1945. In 1946, he helped found thePrague Spring Festival, and conducted its opening concert on 12 May that year.[2]
In July 1946, Kubelík began a three-month conducting tour of Australia as a guest artist for theAustralian Broadcasting Commission, travelling with his wife and two-year-old son. He returned for a second tour in 1949, leading to offers to stay as chief conductor of theMelbourne Symphony Orchestra, which he refused.[4] He would not appear in Australia again until 1958.[5]
After theCommunistcoup of February 1948, Kubelík leftCzechoslovakia, vowing not to return until the country was liberated. "I had lived through one form of bestial tyranny, Nazism," he told an interviewer, "As a matter of principle I was not going to live through another." He defected during a trip to Britain, where he had flown to conductMozart'sDon Giovanni with theGlyndebourne company at theEdinburgh Festival.[1] He had been engaged on the recommendation ofBruno Walter, whom Kubelík had assisted in this work at the 1937Salzburg Festival. Kubelík told his wife of his decision to defect as their plane left Czechoslovakia.
In 1953, the Communist government convicted the couplein absentia of "taking illicit leave" abroad. In 1956, the regime invited him back "with promises of freedom to do anything I wanted," said Kubelík, but he refused the invitation. In a 1957 letter toThe Times, Kubelík said he would seriously consider returning only when all the country's political prisoners were freed and allémigrés were given as much freedom as he would have possessed. He was invited back by the regime in 1966 but again refused; in 1968, after thePrague Spring had been ended by theSoviet invasion, he organised an international boycott, in which many of the major classical artists of the West participated.[6]
In 1950, Kubelík became music director of theChicago Symphony Orchestra, choosing the position over an offer from theBBC to succeedSir Adrian Boult as chief conductor of theBBC Symphony Orchestra.[7] He left the post in 1953. Some hold that he was "hounded out of the [Chicago] job" (to quoteTime magazine) by the "savage attacks" (to quote theNew Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) of theChicago Tribune music criticClaudia Cassidy.[8] ButChicago Sun-Times music critic Robert C. Marsh argued in 1972 that it was the Chicago Symphony trustees who were behind the departure. Their foremost complaint, and that of Cassidy as well, was that Kubelík introduced too many contemporary works (about 70) to the orchestra; there were also objections to his demanding exhaustive rehearsals and engaging several black artists.[1] Many recordings made by Kubelík in Chicago forMercury Records are available on CD, and have received critical praise.[9] Kubeliki's landmark recording ofPictures at an Exhibition with the CSO on Mercury ledNew York Times music critic Howard Taubman to observe that listening to it was like "being in the living presence of the orchestra," and Mercury began releasing their classical recordings under the "Living Presence" series name.[10]
After leaving Chicago, Kubelík toured the US with theConcertgebouw Orchestra, and, in the words ofLionel Salter in theGrove Dictionary, "had a brilliant success with Janáček's Kát'a Kabanová atSadler's Wells in London in 1954".[1] Kubelík became musical director ofThe Royal Opera,Covent Garden, from 1955 to 1958.[11] Among his achievements there was, in 1957, the first practically complete production in any opera house ofBerlioz'sLes Troyens.[12] Although Covent Garden sought to renew his contract, he chose to leave, partly because of a campaign bySir Thomas Beecham against the engagement of foreign artists at Covent Garden.[1] In 1961 Kubelík accepted the position of music director of theBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) inMunich. He remained with the BRSO until 1979, when he retired. Salter considers this 18-year association the high point of Kubelík's career, both artistically and professionally.[1]
In 1961 Ludmilla Kubelík died after a car crash. Also in 1961, he premiered the concerto performance version ofSchoenberg'sJakobsleiter-Fragment in Vienna, with theCologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and choir.
In 1963 Kubelík married the AustraliansopranoElsie Morison (1924–2016), whom he had met while at Covent Garden. In 1967 he became a Swiss citizen, and began an association with the Lucerne Festival, in addition to his work with the BRSO.[1]
In 1971,Göran Gentele, the new general manager of theMetropolitan Opera, New York, asked Kubelík to accept the position of music director.[13] Kubelík accepted partly because of his strong artistic relationship with Gentele. The first production he conducted as the Met's music director wasLes Troyens.[14] The death of Gentele in a road accident in 1972 undermined Kubelík's reasons for working at the opera house. He had prior conducting commitments away from the Met in his first season there, which diverted his attention. He resigned from the Met in 1974, after only six months in the post.[15]
In his post-Czechoslovak career, Kubelík worked with theBerlin Philharmonic,Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony,Cleveland,Israel Philharmonic,London Symphony,New York Philharmonic,Vienna Philharmonic andRoyal Concertgebouw orchestras, among others. His final concert was with the Czech Philharmonic.[2]
In 1985, ill-health (notably severearthritis in his back) caused Kubelík to retire from full-time conducting, but thefall of Communism in his native land led him to accept an invitation to return in 1990 to conduct the Czech Philharmonic at the festival he had founded, thePrague Spring Festival.[1] He recordedSmetana'sMá Vlast live with the Czech Philharmonic forSupraphon, his fifth recording of the piece. He also recorded the Mozart"Prague" Symphony andDvořák's"New World" Symphony at the festival. During the rehearsal of the "New World," he told the Czech Philharmonic, "It is my joy to hear this. I always wanted it to sound like this but never really found it with any other orchestra in the world. That eighth [note] is great!"
On October 18, 1991, Kubelík shared the podium with SirGeorg Solti andDaniel Barenboim and theChicago Symphony Orchestra in a performance that re-created the orchestra's inaugural October 16 and 17, 1891, concerts. Kubelík led the final work on the program:Antonín Dvořák'sHusitská Overture.[16]
Kubelík died in 1996, aged 82, in Kastanienbaum, in theCanton of Lucerne, Switzerland. His ashes are interred next to the grave of his father inSlavín,Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague.
Among Kubelík's compositions are five operas, threesymphonies, three settings of therequiem, other choral works, many pieces ofchamber music, and songs. Salter describes his musical style as "neo-romantic".[1]
Kubelík recorded a large repertory, in many cases more than once per work. There are two complete recordings of his traversals of three major symphony cycles – those ofBrahms,Schumann, andBeethoven. When Kubelík recorded his first complete Beethoven symphony cycle forDeutsche Grammophon, he employed nine different orchestras, one for each symphony.[17] His complete cycle ofMahler's symphonies (recorded from 1967 to 1971 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) is highly regarded.[1] Of his Mahler,Daniel Barenboim remarked, "I often thought I was missing something in Mahler until I listened to Kubelík. There is a lot more to be discovered in these pieces than just a generalized form of extrovert excitement. That is what Kubelík showed."[18] Kubelík also left much-admired recordings of operas byVerdi (hisRigoletto was recorded atLa Scala withDietrich Fischer-Dieskau), Mozart,Janáček, Dvořák and others, includingWagner, whose music he had shunned during the war, but which he conducted in later years. His recordings ofDie Meistersinger andParsifal have been ranked the top choice by many critics, includingBBC Radio 3's Building a Library programme.[19]
Kubelík's complete discography is enormous, with music ranging fromMalcolm Arnold toJan Dismas Zelenka, with recordings both in the studio and in concert. In addition to complete cycles of Beethoven, Brahms, Dvořák, and Mahler, Kubelík made recordings of orchestral and operatic works byBach, Mozart,Haydn,Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi and many others, including modern composers.
In May 2018,Deutsche Grammophon released a 66-disc box-set of his complete recordings for the label.
| Composer | Composition | Date | Orchestra | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlioz | Les Troyens | 1957 | Coven Garden Opera Chorus, Coven Garden Orchestra | Testament |
| Bartók | Concerto for Orchestra | 1974 | Boston Symphony Orchestra | Deutsche Grammophon |
| Beethoven | Symphony No. 4 | 1975 | Israel Philharmonic Orchestra | |
| Symphony No. 5 | 1973 | Boston Symphony Orchestra | ||
| Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" | Orchestre de Paris | |||
| Symphony No. 7 | 1974 | Wiener Philharmoniker | ||
| Symphony No. 8 | 1975 | The Cleveland Orchestra | ||
| Symphony No. 9 "Choral" | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | |||
| Berg | Violin Concerto | 1971 | ||
| Brahms | A German Requiem | 1978 | Audite | |
| Bruckner | Symphony No. 3 | 1954 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Radio Netherlands |
| 1985 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Sony Classical | ||
| Symphony No. 8 | 1963 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Orfeo | |
| 1977 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | BR Klassik | ||
| Symphony No. 9 | 1985 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Orfeo | |
| Dresden | Dansflitsen | 1954 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Radio Netherlands |
| Dvořák | Symphonic Variations | 1974 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Deutsche Grammophon |
| My Home, Overture | 1973-4 | |||
| Hussite Dramatic overture | ||||
| In Nature's Realm Concert Overture | ||||
| Carnival Concert Overture | 1977 | |||
| Othello Concert Overture | ||||
| Scherzo capriccioso | 1975 | |||
| Symphony No. 1 | 1973 | Berliner Philharmoniker | ||
| Symphony No. 2 | ||||
| Symphony No. 3 | ||||
| Symphony No. 4 | ||||
| Symphony No. 5 | ||||
| Symphony No. 6 | ||||
| Symphony No. 7 | 1950 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Radio Netherlands | |
| 1971 | Berliner Philharmoniker | Deutsche Grammophon | ||
| Symphony No. 8 | 1966 | |||
| Symphony No. 9 | 1973 | |||
| The Noon Witch | 1974 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | ||
| The Water Goblin | ||||
| The Wild Dove | ||||
| 1976 | ||||
| Grieg | Piano Concerto | 1964 | Berliner Philharmoniker | |
| Hindemith | Chamber Music No. 5 | 1966 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Bayerischer Rundfunk |
| Concerto Music, Op. 48 | 1963 | |||
| Der Schwanendreher | 1968 | |||
| Janáček | Concertino | 1970 | Deutsche Grammophon | |
| The Diary of One Who Disappeared | ||||
| Glagolitic Mass | ||||
| Sinfonietta | 1970 | |||
| Taras Bulba | 1951 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Radio Netherlands | |
| 1970 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Deutsche Grammophon | ||
| Mahler | Symphony No. 1 "Titan" | 1967 | ||
| 1979 | Bayerischer Rundfunk | |||
| Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" | 1969 | Deutsche Grammophon | ||
| 1982 | Bayerischer Rundfunk | |||
| Symphony No. 3 | 1967 | Deutsche Grammophon | ||
| Symphony No. 4 | 1968 | |||
| Symphony No. 5 | 1971 | |||
| 1981 | Bayerischer Rundfunk | |||
| Symphony No. 6 "Tragic" | 1968 | Deutsche Grammophon | ||
| Symphony No. 7 | 1970 | |||
| Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand" | ||||
| Symphony No. 9 | 1967 | |||
| Symphony No. 10 | 1968 | |||
| Mendelssohn | Violin Concerto | 1951 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Radio Netherlands |
| Mozart | Eine kleine Nachtmusik | 1962 | Wiener Philharmoniker | EMI |
| Mass No. 9 in B Flat major KV 275 (Missa brevis) | 1973 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Deutsche Grammophon | |
| Symphony No. 36 KV 425 "Linz" | 1962 | Wiener Philharmoniker | EMI | |
| Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto No. 2 | 1951 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Radio Netherlands |
| Schoenberg | Piano Concerto | 1972 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | Deutsche Grammophon |
| Violin Concerto | ||||
| Schubert | Symphony No. 9 | 1960 | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | EMI |
| Schumann | Symphonies | 1979 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | CBS / Sony Classical |
| Piano Concerto | 1964 | Berliner Philharmoniker | Deutsche Grammophon | |
| Smetana | Má vlast | 1971 | Boston Symphony Orchestra | |
| Tansman | Music for Orchestra | 1950 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Radio Netherlands |
| Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 4 | 1961 | Wiener Philharmoniker | EMI |
| Verdi | Rigoletto | 1964 | Orchester del Teatro alla Scala | Deutsche Grammophon |
| Wagner | Lohengrin | 1971 | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks | |
| Weber | Der Freischütz | 1980 | Decca | |
| Oberon | 1970 | Deutsche Grammophon |
| Cultural offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Music Director, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 1955–1958 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Music Director, Metropolitan Opera 1973–1974 | Succeeded by |
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