Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos was born in Burgos in 1933 and is one of the Spanish conductors with the greatest international profile in the second half of the twentieth century. His birth name was simply Rafael Frühbeck; he added the surname of his native city to emphasise his Spanish nationality when conducting abroad. His father was of German origin and his mother was Spanish, a detail that helps explain his dual cultural ties.

He trained at the conservatoires of Bilbao and Madrid, where he studied mainly the violin. He then turned to conducting and worked with a Madrid zarzuela company. After completing his military service as director of music for the army, from 1953 to 1956, he studied conducting at the Musikhochschule in Munich with G. E. Lessing and Kurt Eichhorn. Back in Spain he conducted the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra from 1958 to 1962 and, from that year until 1978, the National Orchestra of Spain. In Madrid he was also the first to perform the St Matthew Passion in Spain, and he regularly programmed avant-garde music by Spanish and other composers.

Outside Spain he held prominent posts: he was Generalmusikdirektor in Düsseldorf from 1966 to 1971, focusing above all on the symphonic repertoire, and music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1974 to 1976. He later served as principal guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington from 1980 to 1990, and in 1991 he took over as music director of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Between 1992 and 1997 he led the Deutsche Oper Berlin, his first major operatic post.

His legacy rests on his recordings, made largely with the New Philharmonia and its chorus, such as Carmina burana, Elias and Mozart's Requiem, as well as on his work with the music of Falla and with numerous zarzuelas. His 1970 recording of Carmen, which includes the original spoken dialogue, is especially valued for its energy and sensitivity.