- Boris Goldovsky
Boris Goldovsky (Cyrillic: Борис Голдовский) (
June 7 ,1908 -February 15 ,2001 ) was a promoter and popularizer of opera working in theUnited States of America . As a broadcaster,impresario , and conductor, he became prominent within the American operatic community between 1946 and 1979. He has been called one of the most important popularizers of opera in America. ["American Aria" bySherrill Milnes ]Early life
He was born in
Moscow to a well established Jewish family. His father was a lawyer, his mother a concert violinist, and several relatives were accomplished musicians. At an early age, he became a concert pianist, training at theMoscow Conservatory .Career
In the
Bolshevik era, he and his parents travelled inEurope and America, eventually leaving theSoviet Union . Goldovsky gained fluency in several languages and was a protege ofErnő Dohnányi inBudapest . He moved toPhiladelphia in 1930, and taught at theCurtis Institute for several years. He moved again to Boston in 1942, where he became director of the opera department at theNew England Conservatory of Music .Sarah Caldwell became his assistant in Boston, and worked with him for several years. Around 1943 he became a protege ofKoussevitsky atTanglewood . Koussevitskyhad become well acquainted with the Goldovsky family in Russia long before their immigration to the USA. ["Recollections"]In January 1945, Goldovsky began the
New England Opera Theater (later known as the "Goldovsky Opera Theater") under the sponsorship of the New England Conservatory.Bruce Macpherson and James Klein, "Measure by Measure", Boston: NEC Trustees, 1995, p102]During a tour of the
New York Metropolitan Opera tour visit to Boston in around 1946, Goldovsky participated in a promotional opera quiz event. His encyclopedic knowledge led the Met to offer him a weekend job as master of ceremonies covering the intermission periods of theTexaco -sponsored broadcasts. The Met agreed to pay for weekly travel to New York. He quickly became known across the United States for his Saturday radio commentary. In the 1940s and 1950s, he andGladys Childs Miller were the "star-makers" at New England Conservatory. In 1946, he was named director of the opera program at the Tanglewood Music Center in theBerkshires , a position he held through 1962.In 1953 he wrote "Accents on Opera", a series of essays, sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and published in New York by Farrar, Straus & Young. In 1954 he received a Peabody Award for Outstanding Contribution to Radio Music.
In the late 1970s, he began again to teach at the Curtis Institute, from where he retired in 1985.
He has been credited in several recordings, including a
Boston Symphony Orchestra recording ofWagner 's "Lohengrin", conducted byErich Leinsdorf . Famous associates includeMario Lanza ,Leonard Bernstein andMary Beth Peil .He died in
Brookline, Massachusetts , aged 92, in 2001.Publications
*"Bringing Opera to Life" (1968), about operatic acting and stage direction. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
*"Bringing Soprano Arias to Life" (1973) (with Arthur Schoep). New York: G. Schirmer.
*"Touring Opera: a Manual for Small Companies" (1975) (with Thomas Wolf, foreword bySherrill Milnes ). National Opera Association.
*"My road to opera: the Recollections of Boris Goldovsky", (1979), Houghton Mifflin. [ISBN 0-395-27760-4] OCLC: 4516063
*The University of Indiana published transcripts of his intermission commentary from the Metropolitan Opera radio shows in 1984.
*Some intermission commentary transcripts can be found at www.operainfo.org/intermissionstudents and protégés
*
Sarah Caldwell , who became a famous impresario and conductor in her own right
*Phyllis Curtin , soprano, who sang at the Metropolitan, New York City Opera, and at leading European venues
*Rosalind Elias , who also sang at the Met and in Europe
*Peter Feldman, who performed for radio and television.
*Robert McFerrin , the first African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera.
*Sherrill Milnes , baritone, star at the Met, City Opera, and in Europe.References
Bibliography
*Resources from the Spaulding Library at New England Conservatory
*Goldovsky, "Recollections"
*Macpherson and Klein, "Measure by Measure"
*Edward Rothstein, "Opera: Goldovsky Company's Farewell",The New York Times , March 19, 1984.
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