Dobrowen, Issay (Alexandrovich) (real name, Ishok Israelevich Barabeichik)

Dobrowen, Issay (Alexandrovich) (real name, Ishok Israelevich Barabeichik), distinguished Russian conductor; b. Nizhny- Novgorod, Feb. 27,1891; d. Oslo, Dec. 9,1953. His orphaned mother was adopted by Israil Dobrovel; Issay Dobrowen changed his legal name, Dobrovel, to Dobrowein, and later to Dobrowen. He studied at the Nizhny-Novgorod Cons, as a small child (1896–1900), then entered the Moscow Cons, and studied with Igumnov (piano) and Taneyev (composition). Dubrowen went to Vienna for additional training with Godowsky (piano). Returning to Moscow, he made his conducting debut at the Kommisarzhevsky Theater in 1919; he then conducted at the Bolshoi Theater (1921–22). In 1922 he led the Dresden State opéra in the German premiere of Mussorgsky’s opéra Boris Godunov; he subsequently conducted at the Berlin Volksoper (1924–25) and the Sofia opéra (1927–28). In 1931 he made his American debut conducting the San Francisco Sym. Orch. And was guest conductor with the Minneapolis Sym. Orch., the Philadelphia Orch., and the N.Y. Phil. He was a regular conductor of the Budapest opéra from 1936 to 1939; at the outbreak of World War II he went to Sweden, where he won his greatest successes as conductor and producer at the Stockholm Royal Theater (1941–45). From 1948 he conducted at La Scala in Milan. In 1952 he conducted at London’s Covent Garden. He was a prolific composer, writing several piano concertos and pieces for piano solo in a Romantic vein as well as an orch. fairy tale, 1,001 Nights (Moscow, May 27, 1922).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire