Edward Downes facts for kids
Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes was a famous English conductor. He was born on June 17, 1924, and passed away on July 10, 2009. He was especially good at conducting operas. An opera is a play where the story is told mostly through singing.
Sir Edward worked with the Royal Opera House starting in 1952. He also worked with Opera Australia from 1970. People knew him for his long work with the BBC Philharmonic orchestra. He also conducted the Netherlands Radio Orchestra. In the world of opera, he was very well known for conducting the works of Verdi.
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Early Life and Learning
Edward Downes was born in Birmingham, England, in 1924. His father worked as a bank teller. Edward started learning to play the piano and violin when he was five years old. He was also a choirboy at King Edward's School. There, he learned to play the organ. When his voice changed at age 13, he became the choir master.
At 14, he left school to work at the City of Birmingham Gas Department. He spent his lunch breaks studying at the Birmingham Central Library. At 16, he won a scholarship to the University of Birmingham. His parents did not approve of a music career. So, he had to leave home. During university, he lived in a fire station as a fire watcher. He studied English literature and music. He also began playing the horn.
Later, he won another scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He studied how to compose music and play the horn. While still a student, he toured with the London Symphony Orchestra. After college, he decided not to be an orchestra player. He played in the orchestra for the first shows of Peter Grimes in 1945. He also played for The Sleeping Beauty ballet in 1946. He also played for the orchestra of the San Carlo Opera Company.
After working at the University of Aberdeen, he conducted his first opera. It was The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. He then received a scholarship to study conducting in Zurich.
In 1955, he married Joan Weston. She was a dancer with the Royal Ballet. Joan later became a choreographer and TV producer. They had two children: a son named Caractacus and a daughter named Boudicca.
Conducting Career
After studying conducting, Downes joined the Carl Rosa Opera Company. In 1952, he began working at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He started as an assistant to Rafael Kubelík. On his first day, Joan Sutherland also started with the company. His first job was helping with an opera called Un ballo in maschera. Soon after, he helped Maria Callas in her first show there.
His first time conducting an opera was La bohème in Bulawayo. At Covent Garden, he first conducted Der Freischütz in 1954. He got to conduct a new show when the original conductor had to leave. Downes took over on the opening night.
Downes worked at Covent Garden for 17 years. He returned every year as a guest conductor. In 1991, he became the Associate Music Director. He conducted at least 950 shows of 49 different operas there. This included the Ring Cycle in 1967, 1968, and 1971.
In 1970, he became the Music Director for Opera Australia. He conducted the first opera show in the Sydney Opera House in 1973. This was the first time War and Peace by Sergei Prokofiev was performed in Australia. He was also the Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Orchestra until 1983. Downes worked with many orchestras around the world. He had a very long relationship with the BBC Philharmonic. He was their Chief Guest Conductor, then Principal Conductor, and finally Conductor Emeritus.
Music He Conducted
Downes was known for supporting British music. He especially loved the music of Prokofiev and Verdi. He helped make the symphonies of George Lloyd famous. He also performed new works by Alan Bush, Peter Maxwell Davies, and Malcolm Arnold. His love for Prokofiev's music was clear in his shows. He conducted both famous and lesser-known Prokofiev pieces. In 1967, he conducted the first UK concert of War and Peace. In 1979, he finished writing the music for a Prokofiev opera called Maddalena. He conducted its first recording in 1979 and its first stage show in 1981.
Downes first conducted Verdi's music when he took over Otello at Covent Garden. He felt very comfortable with Verdi's style. He then helped bring many of Verdi's operas back to the stage in England. He conducted 25 of Verdi's 28 operas. He even planned to perform all of them by 2001. This was for the 200th anniversary of Verdi's death. He said: "I seemed to understand Verdi as a person. He was a peasant. He had one foot in heaven and one on the earth. And this is why he appeals to all classes of people."
At the BBC Proms, he conducted the first Proms performance of Gruppen in 1967. He also conducted the first Proms performances of Die Jakobsleiter in 1968, Boris Godunov in 1971, and The Fiery Angel in 1991.
Awards and Recognition
Downes received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1986. He was made a knight in 1991. This means he was called "Sir Edward Downes."
Later Years
For many years, Sir Edward Downes had trouble hearing and seeing. He became almost completely dependent on his wife, Joan. His health declined after a hip replacement surgery. Sadly, Lady Downes was diagnosed with a serious illness.
Their children shared that while Sir Edward could have continued living, he did not want to do so after his wife's diagnosis. They passed away together on July 10, 2009, due to their health problems.
See also
In Spanish: Edward Downes para niños
