Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos (Conductor)
Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Fruhbeck Fruhbeck, 15 September 1933,
Burgos) is a Spanish conductor and composer.
Fruhbeck studied violin, piano, and composition at the conservatories of
Bilbao and Madrid. He graduated summa cum laude from the Hochschule fur Musik in
Munich in conducting and won the Richard Strauss Prize.
Fruhbeck has served as music director of the Rundfunkorchester Berlin, the
Deutsche Oper Berlin, and chief conductor of the Bilbao Orchestra and the Vienna
Symphony, as well as being principal guest conductor for numerous orchestras in
Europe, the United States, and Japan. He made his American debut with the
Philadelphia Orchestra. From 1980 to 1983 he was principal conductor of Yomiuri
Nippon Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, of which he is now an honorary
conductor.
From 2001 to 2007, Fruhbeck was principal conductor of the RAI National
Symphony Orchestra. He became music director of the Dresden Philharmonic in
2004. In January 2011, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announced the
appointment of Fruhbeck as the Creative Director of its Masterworks Series of
concerts, starting with the 2011-2012 season. In February 2011, the Danish
National Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Fruhbeck as its next
principal conductor, as of the 2012-2013 season, with an initial contract of 3
years through 2015.
Fruhbeck has recorded on a number of labels. Especially noteworthy are his
performances of Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah, the Mozart Requiem, Carl Orff's
Carmina Burana, Georges Bizet's Carmen, and the complete works of Manuel de
Falla. Fruhbeck has orchestrated a suite from Isaac Albйniz's Suite espaсola and
conducted the New Philharmonia Orchestra in a commercial recording of this
arrangement. His work in contemporary music has included conducting the world
premiere production of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera Goya.
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