Rapee, Erno

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Rapee, Erno

Rapee, Emo , Hungarian-American conductor, arranger, and composer; b. Budapest, June 4, 1891; d. N.Y., June 26, 1945. He studied at the National Cons. in Budapest (graduated, 1909). After conducting opera in Dresden and Katowice, he toured Mexico and South America as a pianist. In 1912 he settled in N.Y. as conductor of the Hungarian Opera Co. From 1917 he conducted for various film theaters, becoming closely associated with the Roxy (S. L. Rothafel) enterprises. He also was active as an arranger and composer for silent and then sound films. From 1927 he conducted at the new Roxy Theater, where he led weekly radio broadcasts of symphonic music. After a sojourn in Hollywood (1930–31), he returned to N.Y. as music director for NBC. He was music director at Radio City Music Hall from 1932, where he led numerous radio broadcasts.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire