Conductor. He is remembered for his longtime leadership of the Germanic repertory at New York's Metropolitan Opera. The child of a merchant family, he studied violin and composition in his native city and was for a time conducting assistant to Gustav Mahler. Bodanzky held theatrical posts in Berlin, Prague, and Mannheim prior to being hired in 1915 by Metropolitan Opera Music Director Arturo Toscanini. In charge of leading the performance of German operas, he was to take the Metropolitan's podium 1,088 times over his career. Though at times critisized for making excessive cuts and for his rapid tempi, comparison of his performances with those of others reveals that, outside of Bayreuth, both the cuts and the speed were pretty much standard for the day. In 1921 he was engaged as guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, and while he appeared there over the years his obvious forte was opera. Resigning in 1928 he was called back almost immediately when Joseph Rosenstock proved unsatisfactory; in 1935 he was approached about conducting at Covent Garden, London, but no agreement was reached as he wanted too high a fee. Bodanzky remained with the Metropolitan until his death which occured a few weeks after a heart attack. His art is preserved on a number of early Metropolitan radio broadcasts; his name is sometimes rendered Bodzansky, though the above spelling is on his tombstone.
Conductor. He is remembered for his longtime leadership of the Germanic repertory at New York's Metropolitan Opera. The child of a merchant family, he studied violin and composition in his native city and was for a time conducting assistant to Gustav Mahler. Bodanzky held theatrical posts in Berlin, Prague, and Mannheim prior to being hired in 1915 by Metropolitan Opera Music Director Arturo Toscanini. In charge of leading the performance of German operas, he was to take the Metropolitan's podium 1,088 times over his career. Though at times critisized for making excessive cuts and for his rapid tempi, comparison of his performances with those of others reveals that, outside of Bayreuth, both the cuts and the speed were pretty much standard for the day. In 1921 he was engaged as guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, and while he appeared there over the years his obvious forte was opera. Resigning in 1928 he was called back almost immediately when Joseph Rosenstock proved unsatisfactory; in 1935 he was approached about conducting at Covent Garden, London, but no agreement was reached as he wanted too high a fee. Bodanzky remained with the Metropolitan until his death which occured a few weeks after a heart attack. His art is preserved on a number of early Metropolitan radio broadcasts; his name is sometimes rendered Bodzansky, though the above spelling is on his tombstone.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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