Cluytens, André
Cluytens, André
Cluytens, André, noted Belgian-born French conductor; b. Antwerp, March 26, 1905; d. Neuilly, near Paris, June 3, 1967. He studied piano at the Antwerp Cons. His father, conductor at the Théâtre Royal in Antwerp, engaged him as his assistant (1921); later he conducted opera there (1927–32). He then settled in France, and became a naturalized French citizen in 1932. He served as music director at the Toulouse Opera (1932–35); in 1935 he was appointed opera conductor in Lyons. In 1944 he conducted at the Paris Opéra; in 1947 he was appointed music director of the Opéra- Comique in Paris. In 1949 he was named conductor of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris. In 1955 he became the first French conductor to appear at the Bayreuth Festival. On Nov. 4, 1956, he made his U.S. debut in Washington, D.C, as guest conductor of the Vienna Phil, during its first American tour. In 1960 he became chief conductor of the Orchestre National de Belgique in Brussels, a post he held until his death. Cluytens was highly regarded as an interpreter of French music.
Bibliography
B. Gavoty, A. C. (Geneva, 1955).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire