Conductor, 74, died doing what he loved best

Conductor, 74, died doing what he loved best

RIP

norman lebrecht

April 16, 2024

The late Rafael Kubelik, suffering heart tremors while conducting the Czech Philharmonic, begged to be left to die in the podium (he wasn’t).

Yesterday, the Brazilian conductor Jorge Rivero Tirado had a heart attack in mid-rehearsal with the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra in Guadalajara.

Medics who rushed to the scene were unable to revive him.

Tirado, who was rehearsing a popular programme of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the Four Seasons of Buenos Aires by Piazzolla, was the orchestra’s co-principal oboe.

 

 

Comments

  • Dominic Stafford says:

    You have forgotten the great maestro, Giuseppe Patane, who died during a performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bayerisches Staatsoper. He was only 57.

    Contemporary news report, here: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-31-mn-913-story.html

    He was a fabulous conductor and a great character. He was a client of my mother’s and I have very fond memories of him.

  • Petros Linardos says:

    Does anyone know of any famous conductors whose wish to drop dead at the podium was fullfilled at an age above the current average lifespan?

  • PaulD says:

    Rafael Frubeck de Burgos nearly collapsed on stage while conducting the National Symphony in The Pines of Rome. It would be his last performance; he died a few months afterwards. Here’s part of the Washington Post story:

    “Frühbeck was obviously determined not to deny the audience the rousing pleasure of Respighi’s potboiler. He grabbed at the metal rail behind him and stood even as the orchestra began to trail off, not sure whether he was well enough to continue. He obviously wasn’t, but he continued anyway, cuing the percussion and brass with a few sharp gestures above his head as he sat, slumped, on the podium. A few moments before the end of the piece, he stood up and conducted its last moments.

    The audience response was thunderous. Frühbeck turned and faced them, gave a wan smile, then left the stage. When he returned to acknowledge the ovation, many of the musicians, half or a third his age, were in tears.”

  • Ebenezer says:

    Felix Mottl suffered a heart attack on 21 June 1911 while conducting his 100th performance of Tristan in Munich. He was taken to a hospital where he died 11 days later on 2 July, aged 54, but not before marrying his longtime mistress, the soprano Zdenka Faßbender [from Wikipedia].

    • AlbericM says:

      I would think that conducting Tristan 100× would do in any conductor. Most tenors, or at least their Heldenstimmer, don’t last beyond 10×.

  • C Tilbury says:

    When I was at the RAM,the great choral conductor Francis Jackson died just after the Des Irae in the Verdi Requiem. He certainly went the way he would have wanted. Not sure of his age.

  • H. G. Brown says:

    Dimitri Mitropoulos died rehearsing the Mahler 3rd in Greece in the early 60s.

    • Petros Linardos says:

      Mitropoulos collapsed while rehearsing Mahler’s 3rd symphony at La Scala, at age 64, in 1960.

  • Chris says:

    Not Brazilian. He was Mexican. There is considerable distance

  • Jef Olson says:

    I believe Bruno Walter wanted to, tries to die while conducting. My dad wanted to die singing like Leonard Warren. He almost made it. He took a nap after singing an afternoon concert and never woke up. Something Romantic about dieing while engaged on your favorite activity. It happens a lot, but during a different nightime activity.

  • zandonai says:

    There were also some people who asked their ashes be scattered at their favorite concert and operatic venues. And wasn’t there an old guy who jumped to his death from the Met balcony?

  • Brandywine Blogger says:

    John Philip Sousa was rehearsing the Ringgold Band in Reading, Pennsylvania on March 5, 1932 in preparation for their 80th anniversary concert the next day. He finished with “Stars and Stripes Forever” and retired to his room in the Abraham Lincoln Hotel. He was found dead from a heart attack later that evening.

  • Steven Weinstein says:

    OK, let’s get this right. First, his last name was Rivero, not Tirado. Tirado was his mother’s name. Second, he was originally Cuban, not Brazilian or Mexican. Looks as if it takes a village to write an article.

  • Eda says:

    Being 75 I’m a bit upset at all these deaths of people in their 70s. As a non-musician maybe the best I can hope for is a sudden death while sitting at a concert! Or even better at an opera! A dramatic one. However, on reflection, I cannot wish the ‘aftermath’ on the public or performers.

    • Gayle Brown UEL says:

      Death is inevitable for all.
      Three score & ten if you’re lucky.
      Anything over 70 treat as a BONUS & ENJOY.
      Don’t worry about it.
      It will happen.
      Just hope it’s easy, swift & painless.
      God Bless everyone.
      Happy listening & LIVE, LOVE & BE HAPPY UNTO THE END.

    • zandonai says:

      Don’t do it at the opera or they’ll cancel the show and everyone will be mad at you.

    • Petros Linardos says:

      If I were to choose a piece of music to die on, I’d go for Isolde’s Liebestod.

  • megangoldberg says:

    very interesting

  • Chet says:

    With modern medicine it is nigh impossible to die on the podium, there’s a defibrillator backstage, there’s a doctor in the house, people know CPR, the hospital will hook you up to a machine, cryogenics will quick freeze your brain while you’re hooked up…

    Better bring a pistol to the podium if you want a sure death, and better aim right, because if you miss by a centimeter, the hospital will hook you up…

  • Violinista says:

    And let’s not forget Jean Baptiste Lully who died of gangrene after striking his foot with his long staff on the podium

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