Felix Slatkin
Encyclopedia
Felix Slatkin was an American violinist and conductor.
to a Jewish family originally named Zlotkin (though it is not certain) from areas of the Russian Empire
now in Ukraine
. He began studying the violin at the age of nine with Isadore Grossman. He began working professionally at the age of ten and won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute, where he studied violin with Efrem Zimbalist
and conducting with Fritz Reiner
.
At age 17 he joined the St. Louis Symphony and formed a chamber orchestra of young musicians. In 1935 he won a competition which included a solo appearance with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra and Jose Iturbi
. Around this time he met cellist Eleanor Aller
, also of Russian Jewish extraction, whom he later married. During the Second World War, he served his country as a musician at the Santa Ana
Air Force Base and as a conductor of the Army Air Force Tactical Command Orchestra, an organization that raised over 100 million dollars in war bonds.
He settled in Los Angeles
and accepted the post of Concertmaster
for Twentieth Century Fox Studios, performing numerous violin solos in motion pictures such as How Green Was My Valley
and How to Marry a Millionaire
. In 1939 he founded the highly-acclaimed Hollywood String Quartet
, which produced over 21 albums for Capitol Records
and toured the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including a special appearance in 1957 for the Edinburgh Festival
. In 1958, the quartet won a Grammy Award
for Best Classical Performance-Orchestra
from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
for its performance of the Beethoven Late String Quartet
s.
His conducting career included his founding of the Concert Arts Orchestra and appearances with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra. He was Frank Sinatra
's concertmaster and conductor of choice during the Capitol
years of the 1950s. He made over 25 recordings with these orchestras, also on the Capitol label, including a recording of Offenbach
’s Gaîté Parisienne
(a ballet arranged by Manuel Rosenthal
), which won a Grammy Award in 1958. He also made over a dozen recordings for Liberty Records
establishing “The Fantastic Strings, Fantastic Fiddles, Fantastic Percussion, and Fantastic Brass of Felix Slatkin.” In 1962, his recording entitled Hoedown won a Grammy nomination. In 1995, the Hollywood Quartet won the London Grammaphone award for their recording of Schöenberg’s
Verklärte Nacht
and Schubert
’s Quintet in C Major.
Felix Slatkin died from a heart attack
at the age of 47.
is the conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
, and his other son, Frederick Zlotkin (who uses the original Russian spelling of the family name) is Principal Cellist for the New York City Ballet
and the cellist for the Lyric Piano Quartet.
Biography
Slatkin was born in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
to a Jewish family originally named Zlotkin (though it is not certain) from areas of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
now in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. He began studying the violin at the age of nine with Isadore Grossman. He began working professionally at the age of ten and won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute, where he studied violin with Efrem Zimbalist
Efrem Zimbalist
Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. was one of the world's most prominent concert violinists, as well as a composer, teacher, conductor and a long-time director of the Curtis Institute of Music.-Early life:...
and conducting with Fritz Reiner
Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century.-Biography:...
.
At age 17 he joined the St. Louis Symphony and formed a chamber orchestra of young musicians. In 1935 he won a competition which included a solo appearance with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra and Jose Iturbi
José Iturbi
José Iturbi was a Spanish conductor, harpsichordist and pianist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh...
. Around this time he met cellist Eleanor Aller
Eleanor Aller
Eleanor Aller was a world-renowned cellist and founding member, with her husband, Felix Slatkin, of the Hollywood String Quartet....
, also of Russian Jewish extraction, whom he later married. During the Second World War, he served his country as a musician at the Santa Ana
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
Air Force Base and as a conductor of the Army Air Force Tactical Command Orchestra, an organization that raised over 100 million dollars in war bonds.
He settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and accepted the post of Concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
for Twentieth Century Fox Studios, performing numerous violin solos in motion pictures such as How Green Was My Valley
How Green Was My Valley (film)
How Green Was My Valley is a 1941 drama film directed by John Ford. The film, based on the 1939 Richard Llewellyn novel, was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and written by Philip Dunne. The film stars Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, and Roddy McDowall...
and How to Marry a Millionaire
How to Marry a Millionaire
How to Marry a Millionaire is a 1953 romantic comedy film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Jean Negulesco and produced and written by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays The Greeks Had a Word for It by Zoe Akins and Loco by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert. The music score...
. In 1939 he founded the highly-acclaimed Hollywood String Quartet
Hollywood String Quartet
The Hollywood String Quartet was formed in 1939 by violinist and conductor Felix Slatkin and his wife, cellist Eleanor Aller.The original formation of the quartet was rounded out by Joachim Chassman and Paul Robyn. They broke up in 1941 due to Slatkin's entry into the army. The quartet was...
, which produced over 21 albums for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
and toured the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including a special appearance in 1957 for the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. In 1958, the quartet won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Classical Performance-Orchestra
Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance has been awarded since 1959. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*From 1959 to 1964 it was awarded as Best Classical Performance - Orchestra...
from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
for its performance of the Beethoven Late String Quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s.
His conducting career included his founding of the Concert Arts Orchestra and appearances with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra. He was Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's concertmaster and conductor of choice during the Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
years of the 1950s. He made over 25 recordings with these orchestras, also on the Capitol label, including a recording of Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
’s Gaîté Parisienne
Gaîté Parisienne
Gaîté parisienne is a 1938 ballet based on music by Jacques Offenbach, arranged by Manuel Rosenthal. The ballet had the original title of Tortoni, after a Paris café, but Rosenthal recalled that Count Étienne de Beaumont, the ballet's librettist, later came up with the ballet's eventual...
(a ballet arranged by Manuel Rosenthal
Manuel Rosenthal
Manuel Rosenthal was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America...
), which won a Grammy Award in 1958. He also made over a dozen recordings for Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
establishing “The Fantastic Strings, Fantastic Fiddles, Fantastic Percussion, and Fantastic Brass of Felix Slatkin.” In 1962, his recording entitled Hoedown won a Grammy nomination. In 1995, the Hollywood Quartet won the London Grammaphone award for their recording of Schöenberg’s
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
Verklärte Nacht
Verklärte Nacht
Verklärte Nacht , Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899 and his earliest important work...
and Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
’s Quintet in C Major.
Felix Slatkin died from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at the age of 47.
Sons
Felix's son, Leonard SlatkinLeonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
is the conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
, and his other son, Frederick Zlotkin (who uses the original Russian spelling of the family name) is Principal Cellist for the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
and the cellist for the Lyric Piano Quartet.