|
Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his long working relationship with the BBC Philharmonic and for working with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra. Within the field of opera, he was particularly known as a conductor of Verdi. He and his wife, Lady (Joan) Downes, committed assisted suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland on 10 July 2009, an event that received significant media coverage. == Early life and education == Downes was born in Birmingham, England in 1924, the son of a bank teller. He began to learn the piano and violin at age five and was also a choirboy, learning the organ and becoming choir master when his voice broke at 13.〔("Interview with Roy Plomley on ''Desert Island Discs'', BBC radio, 1969 ) accessed 25 November 2013.〕 He left school at the age of 14 to earn his living in the City of Birmingham Gas Department, for 16s 10d (currently equal to 84p) a week.〔Alan Blyth and David Nice,("Obituary—Sir Edward Downes—Leading conductor of Verdi at Covent Garden and a stalwart champion of Prokofiev" ), ''The Guardian'' (London), 14 July 2009. Retrieved on 15 July 2009〕 Having spent his lunch hours studying by himself in Birmingham Central Library,〔 he won a scholarship at the age of 16 to the University of Birmingham. Because his parents believed that a musical career was immoral, they made him leave home and he spent his university time as a fire watcher, living in the fire station, while he studied English literature and music. He began playing the horn.〔 A scholarship to the Royal College of Music to study horn (with Frank Probin) and composition followed. Only weeks after starting the course, Probin sent Downes as his deputy on a tour with the London Symphony Orchestra, which continued over the years Downes spent at the College, but on leaving the Royal College he decided that orchestral playing would not be his career.〔 He played in the orchestra at Covent Garden in the ballet performances (''The Sleeping Beauty'') after the Second World War in 1946, while still at the Royal College of Music. He also played for the orchestra of the San Carlo Opera Company.〔Downes, Edward, and Loppert, Max, "The product of experience", ''Opera'', January 1993, Vol 44 No 1, pp. 26—39.〕 After some time on the staff at the University of Aberdeen, Downes' pursuit of conducting was aided by a two-year Carnegie scholarship which allowed him to study with Hermann Scherchen in Zurich.〔Jill Lawless, ("Conductor Downes, wife die in Swiss suicide clinic" ) ''Associated Press'' 14 July 2009)〕 In 1955 he married Joan Weston, a dancer with the Royal Ballet. She later became a choreographer and television producer. They had two children, a son, Caractacus (born December 1967), a musician and recording engineer, and a daughter, Boudicca (born 1970), a video producer. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edward Downes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|