Eugene Ormandy [1899–1985] was born to a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest. His birth name was Jenö Blau, which he changed to the one we know today in 1921 after immigrating to the United States. Ormandy began his study of the violin at age five and performed his first concert two years later. His fame as a child musical prodigy is further cemented by the fact that he graduated with a master’s degree from the top Hungarian music academy at 14; he also earned a university degree at 20 in philosophy. Upon his arrival in New York City the following year, Ormandy landed a position as a violinist for a theater orchestra. In the years before “talkies,” many movie palaces employed full-size or scaled-back orchestras to accompany the silent films they showed. Within a week he became the ensemble’s concertmaster (first-chair violinist) and eventually took over as its conductor.
In 1931, when Arturo Toscanini became ill while leading the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ormandy was invited to fill in for him. Almost immediately he was asked to take over the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and he served as their conductor until 1936. During his stay in the Upper Midwest, Ormandy forged a strong relationship with RCA Victor and recorded a number of classical works for them. The quality of the music he created brought him further acclaim, and it was hardly a surprise when he was asked to return to Philadelphia as the orchestra’s assistant conductor (working under Leopold Stokowski) and then its music director. Ormandy enjoyed a 44-year career with the Philadelphia Orchestra and is credited with making that ensemble into one of the most revered classical music organizations in the world. He conducted anywhere from 100 to nearly 200 concerts per year, and he also led the orchestra in a number of international tours. The orchestra performed in China in 1973, providing many of the thousands of Chinese audience members with their first-ever exposure to Western music performed live. He continued his relationship with RCA Victor and made hundreds of records for them. His favorite material—both in concert and on vinyl—included compositions of the late Romantics and early 20th century composers. These included Debussy, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff.
Among the many awards Ormandy received during his long career were the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom [1970] and Kennedy Center Honors [1982]. He was also named an honorary Knight of the British Empire in 1976.
Ormandy conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra in an excerpt from The Planets by Gustav Holst:
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