Vladimir Golschmann



Vladimir Golschmann (16 December 1893 – 1 March 1972) was a French-American conductor.

Biography


Vladimir Golschmann was born in Paris to a Jewish family. He studied violin at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. He was a notable advocate of the music of the composers known as Les Six. In Paris, he had his own concert series, the Concerts Golschmann, which began in 1919. He became the director of music activities at the Sorbonne, at the behest of the French government. Golschmann also conducted performances at the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev.

Golschmann was the music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) from 1931 to 1958, their longest-serving music director. His initial contract was for 3 years, and the successive contracts were renewed yearly. For the last three years of his tenure, he was named conductor emeritus, during their search for a successor music director. He was initiated as an honorary member of the New Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity in 1949. Golschmann remained in the US, becoming a citizen in 1957.

In 1957 Golschmann joined forces with a young Glenn Gould and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra to record Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 and Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056 for Columbia Masterworks (ML 5298, 1958).

In his later years, Golschmann also worked with the orchestras of Tulsa and Denver. He died in New York City.

Noted recordings

 * "Modern French Music", a circa 1950 Long playing record, Capitol Records, P8244. On this recording he conducted the Concert Arts Orchestra.  The program was Honegger: Pastorale d'été; Milhaud: Le bœuf sur le toit; Satie: Three Gymnopédies; Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin.
 * Johann Sebastian Bach: Keyboard Concerti Nos 2–5, 7 with Glenn Gould / Columbia Symphony Orchestra
 * Samuel Barber: Music for a Scene from Shelley, Second Essay with the Symphony of the Air
 * Béla Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3 with Leonard Pennario / SLSO
 * Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra
 * César Franck: Symphony in D minor with the SLSO
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 with Arthur Rubinstein / SLSO
 * Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 with Leonard Pennario / SLSO
 * Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 with Leonard Pennario / SLSO
 * Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, with the SLSO recorded 1945
 * Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 with the SLSO
 * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet fantasy-overture,  Francesca da Rimini'' with the SLSO
 * Roy Harris: Folksong Symphony with the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra