Zdeněk Mácal

Mácal was born in Brno and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four.[1] He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, where he graduated in 1960 with top honors.[1] He became the principal conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and conducted both symphonic concerts and operas. He won the 1965 International Conducting Competition in Besançon, France, and the 1966 Dimitri Mitropoulos International Music Competition in New York City,[2] under the direction of Leonard Bernstein.[1] Leaving behind a promising career in Czechoslovakia, he left the country after the Soviet-led invasion of 1968 crushed the Prague Spring,[2] with his wife and daughter.[3]

He was invited to conduct the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra where Rafael Kubelík was chief conductor, who asked the younger colleague to conduct contemporary music including the world premiere of the Eight Symphony by Jan Kapr. His first post as chief conductor in the West was in 1970 the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne for four years,[2] followed by the NDR Orchestra of Hanover.[1] He made his successful London debut at the Royal Festival Hall in February 1969 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as a late replacement for Constantin Silvestri. The concert included a performance of Richard Strauss' Don Quixote, with cellist Paul Tortelier and violist Mary Samuel.

Mácal made his American debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1972.[1] He served as artistic advisor of the San Antonio Symphony and principal conductor of Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival.

Publicity photo, 1977

Mácal was appointed chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for a three-year contract, beginning with the 1986 season.[4] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation had agreed at the outset to adjust Mácal's fee so that he would not be adversely affected by the fluctuating Australian dollar, or in his tax arrangements, and any loss would be borne by the ABC. Shortly after taking up his appointment in March 1986, he asked to be released from his contract from the end of the first year, and this was agreed to.[4] But in July 1986, with five concerts of his first season still to come, he left the country without explanation or even informing the ABC.[5]

Mácal became music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 1986.[4]He took that orchestra on an East Coast tour in 1989, which included performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Carnegie Hall in New York City. He made a very popular recording of Smetana's Má vlast for Telarc Records in 1991. During his tenure in Milwaukee, the orchestra's concerts were broadcast on more than 300 radio stations.[6]

Mácal left Milwaukee to become music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) in September 1993,[4][3] where he recorded almost the complete works by Antonín Dvořák,[3] including his Stabat Mater in 1994. In 1995, he made Dolby Surround recordings of Reinhold Glière's Second Symphony in C minor and the suite from his ballet The Red Poppy.[1] He concluded his NJSO tenure in 2002 and took on an emeritus title with the orchestra subsequently.[7]

After the he end of the communist regime in his home country, he was able to return there.[3] In 2003, Mácal was appointed chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.[2][3] Although his contract with the orchestra was through 2008, he suddenly resigned in September 2007.[4][8]

In 2006, Mácal made a brief appearance as in the Japanese drama series Nodame Cantabile, based on the manga by Tomoko Ninomiya. He played the main character's childhood mentor, conductor Sebastiano Vieira.[9]

Mácal died in a Prague hospital[3][10] on 25 October 2023, at age 87.[4][11]

• Zdeněk Mácal at AllMusic
• Zdeněk Mácal discography at Discogs
• Zdeněk Mácal at IMDb
• Interview with Zdeněk Mácal, 26 July 1990