Eugene Ormandy--A Name That Should Be Remembered

To those under the age of 35 or those who are not aficionados of what is known as 'classical music,' the name of Eugene Ormandy is probably not familiar. On the other hand, it might be. Ormandy dominated the majority of the 20th century as the esteemed conductor of the renown Philadelphia Orchestra from 1936 until 1980. His long tenure with the orchestra was unprecedented.

Ormandy's is a name that should be remembered, not just for the fact that his career took him to the very pinnacle of the classical music world but because he was truly one of the very few musical geniuses of the 20th century. At the age of 3, Ormandy could identify symphonies. At the age of 4, he could play the violin. By the age of 5, he was the youngest pupil in the history of the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary, of which he was a native. And at the age of 10, Ormandy was performing for the royal family of Austria-Hungary.

Although Ormandy's original expertise was in violin, he once told his father that 'violinists do not have the prominence and prestige of a conductor.' When Ormandy came to the United States to do a concert tour playing the violin, he eventually landed a seat with the Capitol Theater Symphony. He made his conducting debut in 1924. During this time Ormandy was heavily influenced by Arturo Toscanini of the New York Philharmonic. This proved to be a providential foreshadowing of things to come, as it was Toscanini's illness when he was scheduled as a guest conductor for the Philadelphia Orchestra that Ormandy was tapped as his fill-in. Ormandy was an immediate sensation.

In 1936, Ormandy became the associate conductor for the Philadelphia Orchestra, serving along side of the great Leopold Stkowsky. Then, in 1938, Ormandy became the sole permanent conductor of the orchestra, a position he kept until his retirement in 1980. At that point, the orchestra made Ormandy the 'conductor emeritus,' a position that he kept until his death in 1985. Ormandy's last performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra was at Carnegie Hall on January 10, 1984.

The 20th century was dominated by three outstanding orchestra conductors--Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein of the New York Philharmonic, and Arthur Feidler of the Boston Pops. Each had their own unique style and genius--and public acclaim. But it was Ormandy who perhaps overshadowed the other two by the sheer force of his genius and the place he made for the Philadelphia Orchestra in music history.

These were the days when orchestras hired permanent conductors. Those conductors were given free reign as to who would play under their baton. Today, this is no longer the case. Conductors are free-lance, 'free-agents' who hire themselves out to orchestras for specific occasions. This has led to a revolving door of sorts, as a single orchestra may play under a dozen different conductors in the course of a year. Ormandy had the great fortune of molding and shaping his orchestra the way he wanted. Each member of the orchestra was hand-picked by Ormandy himself.

The power of the Ormandy presence produced an entirely different sound than was the standard fare at the time among orchestras. Ormandy relied on the velvet, mellow sounds of the woodwinds and strings to produce a tight, warm, easy-on-the-ears listening experience, as opposed to the somewhat overuse of the more shrill sounds of brass, as most orchestras exhibited. One need only listen to an Ormandy rendition of Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus' as compared to Bernstein's rendition to see what I mean. Both styles have their merit, but most orchestras were doing the Bernstein styling, which meant that Ormandy created a sound totally unique among the great orchestras.

This uniqueness brought wide acclaim to the Philadelphia Orchestra. They were the very first American orchestra to be invited to perform in Red China. Their recordings were best-sellers, including the popular version of 'Handel's Messiah' as performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. When former President Richard Nixon was embroiled in the Watergate controversy, he sent his advisors and the Secret Service twirling in a frenzy when he insisted, at the last minute, that he was going to hear Eugene Ormandy conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra. Despite the objections of his staff concerning the logistics and the security concerns, Nixon would have none of it. He was going to hear Ormandy, period.

Known as 'the modest little maestro,' Ormandy received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1970--an event at which he cried upon accepting the award. He is also an honoree of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Interestingly, one can find many sites on the Internet which contain examples of Ormandy's many verbal missteps. The Hungarian native never quite caught onto the intricacies of the English language, and thus, the more mischievous of the musicians in the Philadelphia Orchestra would keep their pens handy so that they could quickly write down these 'Ormandy-isms.'

While these things can be quite humorous and are a part of history, they in no way undercut or minimize the genius of 'the maestro.' Anyone of any age should learn his name, read of him, and listen to his music. Eugene Ormandy has left us with a rich legacy of pure enjoyment. His genius is to be forever celebrated.