Dimitri Mitropoulos

Dimitri Mitropoulos is one of those conductors from the mid-20th century, like Hermann Abendroth, who was rediscovered as the century drew to a close. A renowned interpreter of the works of Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and other late Romantics, he was also one of the most controversial and tragic musical figures of his era, owing to his barely concealed homosexuality and his fanatical, almost priest-like dedication to music, which ultimately helped cost him his life. Born in Athens at the end of the 19th century, he was a gifted music student from a very early age -- at a...