Gary Bertini Suggest updates
Born Bichevo, 1 May 1927.
Died Tel Hashomer, 17 March 2005.
Israeli conductor and composer.
Gary Bertini was born in Bessarabia (present-day Moldova) and his family emigrated to Palestine when he was still a child. He studied firstly in Milan, then in Paris with Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulanger. He made his conducting debut with the Israel Philharmonic in 1955.
He held posts with a number of orchestras, including the Israel Chamber Ensemble, Jerusalem Symphony and Detroit Symphony.
His operatic career included Ariane et Barbe-bleue at the Paris Opéra 1975 and War and Peace at the Bastille in 2000. He held posts at the opera houses in Frankfurt and Rome, and at the time of his death was Artistic Director of Israeli Opera and Music Director of the San Carlo, Naples.
He conducted the premieres of several operas by Josef Tal - Ashmedai (Hamburg 1971), Masada 967 (Jerusalem 1973), and Die Versuchung (Munich 1977).
There are few recordings of his operatic work, perhaps the most notable being Die drei Pintos, the completion by Mahler of Weber's comic opera.
In Scotland, he spent several seasons as Principal Guest Conductor of the SNO. During that period he also worked with Scottish Opera, though with the exception of Boris Godunov, the operas he conducted employed the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He also conducted the SNO in concert performances of L'Enfant et les Sortilèges to celebrate the composer's centenary in 1975.
