Del Mar, Jonathan (Rene)

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Del Mar, Jonathan (Rene)

Del Mar, Jonathan (Rene) , English conductor and musicologist, son of Norman (René) Del Mar; b. London, Jan. 7,1951. He was awarded a music Scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, when he was 17, and took his M.A. there in 1972. In 1976 he received his diploma from the Royal Coll. of Music in London. He then attended Ferrara’s conducting courses in Venice (1976–77) and at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1977), and also studied with Kondrashin in the Netherlands. In 1977 he was a finalist in the Karajan competition, and then won prizes in the Malko (1980) and Leeds (1984) competitions. In 1984 he made his debut with the London Sym. Orch., and subsequently appeared as a guest conductor with many of the leading British orchs. His interest in the major orch. WORKS of Beethoven led him to pursue a diligent search of all relevant extant sources as well as evaluating every aspect of 19th century historical performance practice. In 1995 he prepared the Urtext Edition of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, which was followed by the invaluable New Barenreiter Urtext Edition of Beethoven’s9 syms. (Kassel, 1996–2000). In addition to his articles in journals, he publ. Indicatore Anagrafico di Venezia (1996) and ed. his father’s Conducting Berlioz (1997), Conducting Elgar (1998), and Conducting Favourite Concert Pieces (1998).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire