Oskar Danon

Not to be confused withOskar Davičo.

Oskar Danon in 1961 during practice with the Maribor Symphony Orchestra inMaribor

Oskar Danon(7 February 1913 – 18 December 2009)was aYugoslavcomposerandconductor.

Biography

Danon, aBosnian Jew,was born in 1913 inSarajevo,then in theAustro-Hungarian Empire(modernBosnia and Herzegovina).He studied music in theKingdom of YugoslaviaandPrague,Czechoslovakia,where he obtained hisPh.D.inmusicology.

He worked as a conductor in Sarajevo, and afterWorld War IIbecame conductor and director of theBelgrade Opera(1944–1965) and the chief conductor of theSlovenian Philharmonic Orchestra(1970–1974).He was also a conductor of theBelgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.With these orchestras he performed both in Yugoslavia and abroad (Paris,Wiesbaden,Florence,etc.).

In 1955, as part of a Russian complete opera recording project withDeccaand the Belgrade National Opera, he conductedPrince Igor,Eugene OneginandA Life for the Tsarin the Dome of Culture.

With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London he recorded works by Smetana, Enescu, Dvořák, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Saint-Saëns for Reader's Digest in 1962-63, and in 1963Die Fledermausin German and English for RCA in Vienna with Adele Leigh, Anneliese Rothenberger, Risë Stevens, Sándor Kónya, Eberhard Waechter and George London,as well as recording for Supraphon in Czechoslovakia:Scheherazade,Orpheus,Pulcinellaand theFranck symphony.

Danon's Vienna State Opera debut in 1964 wasThe Gambler,in a production from Belgrade, followed over the years byDon Quichotte(Massenet),The Miraculous Mandarin(Bartók),TannhäuserwithGottlob Frick,Wolfgang Windgassen,Eberhard Waechter,Christa LudwigandGundula Janowitz,Carmen,La traviata,Aida,The Flying Dutchman,Rigoletto,Madama ButterflyandOtello.For the Verdi Theatre in Trieste he conductedBoris Godunov,The Golden CockerelandCountess Maritza.

Danon was professor at theBelgrade Music Academy.He was awarded theOctober Award of the City of Belgradefor hisconductingactivity, as well as theAVNOJ Award(1970). Danon was also a member and former president of theAssociation of Musical Artists of Serbia.

Danon died inBelgradeon 18 December 2009, aged 96. He is interred in theAlley of Distinguished Citizensin theBelgrade New Cemetery.

See also

• Uz Maršala Tita

Sources

• Holmes, John L.Conductors on Record,Victor Gollancz, London 1982.
• Kolar, Vladimir.Oskar Danon. Tonovi jednog vremena,Savez kompozitorajugoslavije, Beograd 1973.
• Krleza, Miroslav.Leksikon Jugoslavenske Muzike,Jugoslavenski Leksikografski Zavod, Zagreb 1984.
• Maksimović, M. (1971):Beogradska filharmonija 1951–1971,Beogradska filharmonija, Beograd
• Mala enciklopedija Prosveta,I (1978), Prosveta, Beograd
• Muzička enciklopedija,I (1971), Jugoslovenski leksikografski zavod, Zagreb
• Muzika i muzičari u NOB — Zbornik sećanja(1982), Grupa izdavača, Beograd
• Pedeset godina Fakulteta muzičke umetnosti (Muzičke akademije) 1937–1987(1988), Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu, Beograd
• Pejović, R. (1986):Oskar Danon,Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu, Beograd
• Peričić, V.[1969]:Muzički stvaraoci u Srbiji,Prosveta, Beograd
• Sadie, Stanley.The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,Macmillan, London 1980.
• Danon Oskar i Hribar Svjetlana "Ritmovi nemira", I. izdanje Sarajevska zima, Sarajevo 2005., II. izdanje Beogradska filharmonija, Beograd 2006. godine