Leon Barzin
Encyclopedia
Léon Eugene Barzin was a Belgian
-born American
conductor
and founder of the National Orchestral Association (NOA), the oldest surviving training orchestra in the United States. Barzin was also the founding musical director of the New York City Ballet
.
The great cellist Emanuel Feuermann considered Barzin to be one of the finest conductors of the twentieth century and indeed he was a most appreciated collaborator of the foremost soloists of the day. His years with the NOA were notable for the dazzling array of artists who appeared under his direction: Artur Schnabel, Claudio Arrau, Bronislaw Huberman, Nathan Milstein, Ernst Von Dohnanyi, Emanuel Feuermann
, William Primrose, Lilian Kallir, Joseph Szigeti
, Felix Salmond, Myra Hess, Rudolf Serkin
, Yehudi Menuhin, Ossip Gabrilowitsch
, Lili Kraus, Mischa Elman, Elisabeth Schumann, Joseph Fuchs, Lillian Fuchs, Philippe Entremont, Leonard Rose, Zino Francescatti, Oscar Shumsky, William Kapell
, Michael Rabin, David Nadien, Jacques Voois and Rosalyn Tureck.
Leon Barzin was one of the founders of the New York City Ballet and of its predecessor, Ballet Society, with Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. He remained as Music Director for ten years. A guest conductor with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, he was Director of the Tanglewood Music Center and in charge of education at the New England Conservatory of Music.
A great master of the baton, Barzin was a much sought after teacher of conducting in New York and later in France - at his home in the rue Monceau, Paris and at the Pavilion d'Artois, Vaux-sur-Seine - and in Fribourg, Switzerland. His distinctive technique was taught as a standard at the Royal Academy of Music in London. A wonder of modern medical science, he remained a vibrant and energetic educator right until his death on April 19, 1999 in Naples, Florida.
(cello), Ossip Gabrilowitsch
(piano), Mischa Elman and Joseph Szigeti
(violin), Myra Hess
, Rudolf Serkin
(piano) and Artie Shaw
(clarinet). He also developed radio programs on WNYC
and WQXR
and guest conducted the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra
.
(1956).
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and founder of the National Orchestral Association (NOA), the oldest surviving training orchestra in the United States. Barzin was also the founding musical director of the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
.
Biography
Born in Brussels on November 27, 1900, the American conductor and pedagogue Leon Barzin was taken to America at the age of two. He studied the violin with his father (principal viola at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and later of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), and later with Edouard Deru, Pierre Henrotte and Eugène Ysaye. He joined the New York Philharmonic in 1919 as a violinist and was appointed first viola in 1925, a position he retained until 1929, collaborating in those years with Willem Mengelberg, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini. It was at Toscanini's encouragement that he began his conducting career. In 1930 he was named principal conductor and musical director of the National Orchestral Association, America's leading proving ground for young professionals and a springboard for generations of young American instrumentalists. In this capacity he had a notable success for three decades. In public concerts and in weekly rehearsals, reaching a wide audience through the New York municipal radio station, he groomed his players in performances of the standard repertory. Leon Barzin influence on the quality of symphonic performance in the United States was enormous and long lasting, as thousands of young professional players emerged from the NOA to fill the ranks of the great American symphonic, ballet and opera orchestras. In 1958 he resigned from the association and moved to Paris, where he founded the Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris - giving weekly concerts in the Théatre des Champs-Élysées - and taught conducting at the Schola Cantorum. He returned to New York as Music Director of the National Orchestral Association in 1970. In 1973 he took the NOA to Italy, where it was orchestra in residence at the Spoleto Festival Di Due Mondi, participating in Luchino Visconti's legendary production of Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut. He resigned in 1976.The great cellist Emanuel Feuermann considered Barzin to be one of the finest conductors of the twentieth century and indeed he was a most appreciated collaborator of the foremost soloists of the day. His years with the NOA were notable for the dazzling array of artists who appeared under his direction: Artur Schnabel, Claudio Arrau, Bronislaw Huberman, Nathan Milstein, Ernst Von Dohnanyi, Emanuel Feuermann
Emanuel Feuermann
Emanuel Feuermann was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
, William Primrose, Lilian Kallir, Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti was a Hungarian violinist.Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay...
, Felix Salmond, Myra Hess, Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
, Yehudi Menuhin, Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Ossip Gabrilowitsch was a Russian-born American pianist, conductor and composer.- Biography :...
, Lili Kraus, Mischa Elman, Elisabeth Schumann, Joseph Fuchs, Lillian Fuchs, Philippe Entremont, Leonard Rose, Zino Francescatti, Oscar Shumsky, William Kapell
William Kapell
William Kapell was an outstanding American pianist who was killed in the crash of a commercial airliner.-Biography:...
, Michael Rabin, David Nadien, Jacques Voois and Rosalyn Tureck.
Leon Barzin was one of the founders of the New York City Ballet and of its predecessor, Ballet Society, with Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. He remained as Music Director for ten years. A guest conductor with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, he was Director of the Tanglewood Music Center and in charge of education at the New England Conservatory of Music.
A great master of the baton, Barzin was a much sought after teacher of conducting in New York and later in France - at his home in the rue Monceau, Paris and at the Pavilion d'Artois, Vaux-sur-Seine - and in Fribourg, Switzerland. His distinctive technique was taught as a standard at the Royal Academy of Music in London. A wonder of modern medical science, he remained a vibrant and energetic educator right until his death on April 19, 1999 in Naples, Florida.
Impact on American music
Léon E. Barzin trained generations of American musicians in technique and repertoire and through the NOA helped many young American musicians procure positions in professional orchestras. He worked particularly hard to break down prejudices against women and minorities, focusing entirely on musicianship for positions in the NOA.Notable performances
Barzin conducted concerts with soloists including Emanuel FeuermannEmanuel Feuermann
Emanuel Feuermann was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
(cello), Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Ossip Gabrilowitsch was a Russian-born American pianist, conductor and composer.- Biography :...
(piano), Mischa Elman and Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti was a Hungarian violinist.Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay...
(violin), Myra Hess
Myra Hess
Dame Myra Hess DBE was a British pianist.She was born in London as Julia Myra Hess, but was best known by her middle name. At the age of five she began to study the piano and two years later entered the Guildhall School of Music, where she graduated as winner of the Gold Medal...
, Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
(piano) and Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
(clarinet). He also developed radio programs on WNYC
WNYC
WNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...
and WQXR
WQEW
WQEW is a Radio Disney affiliate licensed to New York City. Its transmitter is located in Maspeth, Queens. WQEW has a transmitter power of 50,000 watts and is listed as a Clear-channel station...
and guest conducted the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
.
Private life
Léon Barzin married four times and divorced three times, and had two sons, Richard and Léon Q., and one daughter, Lora (Childs). His wives were: Marie Sherman Vandeputte (1928; one son, one daughter), Jane Goodwin (1939), Wilhelmina Quevli (1949; one son), Eleanor Post Close, daughter of Marjorie Merriweather PostMarjorie Merriweather Post
-External links:******...
(1956).
Awards and honors
Barzin was awarded the Columbia University Ditson Award, the Gold Medal of Lebanon, the Theodore Thomas Award of the Conductor's Guild and was a recipient of the Légion d'honneur.Video/Discography
- DVD Video - Leon Barzin and The National Orchestral Association copyright 2004 The National Orchestral Association 110 minutes
- Leon Barzin conducting the National Orchestral Association in a 1971 video recording
- Bizet: Roma (Ballet), Chabrier: Bourée fantasque (Ballet) - New York City Ballet Orchestra - Vox PL9320 (LP: 33 1/3 Record)
- Mozart: Haffner Symphony (No. 35 in D major, Berlioz: Waverley Overture and three excerpts from The Damnation of Faust - Orchestra drawn from the alumni of the National Orchestral Association - Columbia Masterworks ML5176 (LP: 33 1/3 Record)
- Nathan Milstein: Mendelssohn Concerto in E minor, Bruch Concerto No. 1 in G Minor - Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Leon Barzin - Capitol Records P8518 ((LP: 33 1/3 Record)
- Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C, Op. 37, Movements 2 (largo) and 3 (rondo): National Orchestra Association (1937) - William KapellWilliam KapellWilliam Kapell was an outstanding American pianist who was killed in the crash of a commercial airliner.-Biography:...
, soloist (age 14 - his earliest surviving recording) - Arbiter 108 (CD) - G. Kleinsinger-P.Tripp, Victory Jory Symphony Orchestra: Tubby The Tuba - Cosmopolitan DMR 101 (78 RPM)