Siegfried Landau, Conductor, Dies at 85

NY Times ^ | 2/21/07 | DENNIS HEVESI

[Borges]

Siegfried Landau, the founding conductor of what is now called the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, died on Monday night, along with his wife, Irene Gabriel, in a fire at their home in Brushton, in northern New York State. Mr. Landau was 85. His wife, a former ballet dancer, was 70.

The deaths were confirmed by Adam Teeter, a spokesman for the Brooklyn Philharmonic, which was known as the Brooklyn Philharmonia during Mr. Landau’s tenure, from 1955 to 1971. From 1961 to 1968, Mr. Landau was also conductor of the White Plains Symphony.

From both podiums Mr. Landau regularly insisted on conducting new or rarely performed works — sometimes to the consternation of orchestra board members.

“He put together a corps of top-notch, professional freelance players from New York,” said Maurice Edwards, a former executive director of the Brooklyn Philharmonia and the author of “How Music Grew in Brooklyn” (Scarecrow Press, 2006). “He did at least two or three new compositions each season, or revivals of neglected symphonic scores.”

[Borges]

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