Rafael Kubelik

Czech conductor, violinist and composer

Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer.

The son of a distinguished violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 19. Having managed to maintain a career in Czechoslovakia under the Nazi occupation, he refused to work under what he considered a "second tyranny" after the Communist Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948, and took refuge in Britain. He became a Swiss citizen in 1967.

Kubelík was music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1950–53), musical director of The Royal Opera, Covent Garden (1955–58). In 1957, he conducted and recorded the world premiere of Berlioz's Les Troyens. From 1961 to 1979, he was music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and was a frequent guest conductor for leading orchestras in Europe and America.

As a composer, Kubelík wrote in a neo-romantic idiom. His works include five operas, three symphonies, chamber music, choral works, and songs.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.

Box sets & recent recordings

Recordings conducted by Kubelik — Rafael Kubelík (2005) box set · 89 tracks Spotify
Hindemith: Mathis der Maler — Paul Hindemith, Rafael Kubelík, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, James King, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1979) box set · 61 tracks Spotify
Dvorak: The 9 Symphonies — Antonín Dvořák, Berliner Philharmoniker, Rafael Kubelík (1999) box set · 38 tracks Spotify
Mozart: Requiem; Great Mass in C minor; Missa brevis in C major — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelík (1998) box set · 34 tracks Spotify
Rafael Kubelík conducts Haydn, Schoenberg & Tchaikovsky — John Ogdon, Philharmonia Orchestra, Rafael Kubelík (2022) Spotify

Box sets & recent releases via Spotify — surfaced automatically, not editorial picks.