Giulini, Carlo Maria

born May 9, 1914, Barletta, Italy

Italian conductor.

He studied viola and composition at Santa Cecilia in Rome and, after years as a violist, became a conductor in 1944. That same year he was appointed musical director for Italian Radio. In 1950 he organized the Milan Radio Orchestra. After several years at La Scala in Milan, he left opera at the peak of his international career in 1967; he thereafter devoted his time to conducting symphony orchestras. His recordings of operas and choral works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi were widely acclaimed, and he subsequently held important orchestral posts in Chicago (1968–78), Vienna (1973–76), and, his last, Los Angeles (1978–84).

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▪ 2006

      Italian conductor (b. May 9, 1914, Barletta, Italy—d. June 14, 2005, Brescia, Italy), was admired for his meticulous, reflective performances, despite a relatively small, carefully selected repertoire of operas and orchestral works. Giulini studied violin and viola at the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome. Drafted into the Italian army during World War II, he conducted his debut concert with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra upon the liberation of Rome in 1944. He then worked for Italian Radio and in 1950 conducted his first staged opera. From 1953 to 1955 he was principal conductor at La Scala in Milan. He established a career in major European opera houses until, in the late 1960s, he increasingly concentrated on the orchestral literature. Giulini had a long association with London's Philharmonia and New Philharmonia orchestras and in 1955 made his American debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), an affiliation that lasted until 1978. He was the CSO's principal guest conductor from 1969 to 1973. He was conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (1973–76) and of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1978–84). Among his opera recordings were Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni and Verdi's Don Carlos and Falstaff. He also recorded Verdi's Requiem Mass and made several highly praised recordings with the London, Chicago, and Los Angeles orchestras.

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▪ Italian conductor

born May 9, 1914, Barletta, Italy

died June 14, 2005, Brescia

      Italian conductor esteemed for his skills in directing both grand opera and symphony orchestras.

      Giulini studied under Bernardino Molinari at Rome's Accademia di Santa Cecilia (later Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia). As violist for that institution's resident orchestra, he observed the work of such notables as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Otto Klemperer (Klemperer, Otto), and Bruno Walter (Walter, Bruno). His conducting debut took place there in 1944; that same year he was appointed musical director for Italian Radio. In 1950 he organized the Milan Radio Orchestra, whose broadcasts brought him to the attention of Arturo Toscanini (Toscanini, Arturo) and Victor de Sabata. Three years later he succeeded Sabata as principal conductor of La Scala, where he worked with producer Franco Zeffirelli (Zeffirelli, Franco) and such performers as Maria Callas (Callas, Maria). Acclaimed performances of Italian opera at a series of European festivals were followed by successes in Britain in 1955 at the Edinburgh Festival and in London in 1958 during the centenary of the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. In 1967 Giulini, who had left La Scala in 1955, decided to devote his time to conducting symphony orchestras. He maintained a long association with the London Philharmonia and the Chicago Symphony orchestras. From 1973 to 1976 he conducted the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and in 1978 succeeded Zubin Mehta (Mehta, Zubin) as chief conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a post he held until 1984.

      Giulini's conducting style was often compared to that of Toscanini. A Romantic conductor, he performed few modern works and was best known for his interpretations of the music of Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gustav Mahler, and Anton Bruckner. He also recorded extensively.

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