Ernest Martin Fleischmann (December 7, 1924 – June 13, 2010) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-born American

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. H ...

who served for 30 years as executive director of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

, which he upgraded to become a top-ranked orchestra. A talented musician, he chose a career on the business aspect of music, rather than a life as a conductor. Fleischmann was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...

on December 7, 1924, to Gustav and Toni (née Koch). His Jewish family fled

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and emigrated to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. There he learned music as a teenager and made his debut as a professional conductor in 1942, when he was only 17 years old. He earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

and received a degree in music from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

. He organized music for the

Johannesburg Festival Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

starting in 1956, for which he commissioned William Walton to create the

Johannesburg Festival Overture ''Johannesburg Festival Overture'' is a composition for orchestra by the English composer William Walton, composed for the 70th anniversary of Johannesburg in 1956. In January 1956, Walton received a commission from Ernest Fleischmann, musical di ...

in honor of the city's 70th anniversary. He married

Elsa Leviseur Bibliography Elsa Leviseur is a South African architect specializing in landscape and ecology. She practiced in South Africa and later in England and the US. She was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1932. Her mother was Beryl Iris Basson (1887- ...

in 1953, who practiced as an Architect in South Africa, US and England. In 1959, he took a position as general manager of the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, spurning an offer from the

Cape Town Symphony Orchestra The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is an orchestra based in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. History Founded by the Cape Town City Council, the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra held its inaugural concert on 28 February 1914 in the ...

.Weber, Bruce
"E. Fleischmann, Impresario of Los Angeles, Dies at 85"
''

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'', June 15, 2010. Accessed June 20, 2010. In London, he arranged for the orchestra to perform an annual season at Carnegie Hall in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and commissioned works by Richard Rodney Bennett and Sir

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qu ...

, in addition to exchange concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He left the LSO in 1967 and worked for a short time as the European director of CBS Masterworks Records. When he became executive director of the

in 1969,

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

was conductor at the distinguished

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located ...

, but the musicians in the orchestra were not paid what they were worth. During his tenure in Los Angeles, Fleischmann more than doubled the pay for musicians and added a summer season at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its disti ...

. In addition to improving the orchestra's financial condition, a $50 million donation from

Lillian Disney Lillian Marie Disney ( Bounds; February 15, 1899December 16, 1997) was an American ink artist at the Disney Studios and the wife of Walt Disney from 1925 until his death in 1966. Born in Spalding, Idaho, Disney graduated from high school in Lapw ...

that went towards the construction of the

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considere ...

-designed

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand A ...

meant the philharmonic played in a hall with acoustics far superior to their former venue. He brought in

Carlo Maria Giulini Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...

as conductor from 1978 to 1985, who was replaced by

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieve ...

. Previn, who had an ongoing feud with Fleischmann, left abruptly at the end of the 1989 season and would later call Fleischmann "an untrustworthy, scheming bastard".Staff
"Obituary: Ernest Fleischmann"
'' The Telegraph'', June 16, 2010. Accessed June 20, 2010. Fleischmann brought in

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Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music dir ...

in 1992, who ''

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'' credited with transforming the orchestra into a "lean, disciplined machine".Mermelstein, David
"Longtime Director of Los Angeles Philharmonic Dies"
''

'', June 16, 2010. Accessed June 20, 2010.

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. Early life Dudamel was b ...

was hired in 2009 to succeed Salonen. Fleischmann had identified Dudamel as a prodigy when he won the inaugural Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2004, where Fleischmann and Salonen had been among the judges.Luther, Claudia
"Ernest Fleischmann dies at 85; manager who guided Los Angeles Philharmonic's transformation"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', June 15, 2010. Accessed June 20, 2010. Reviewer Mark Swed of the ''

'' credited Fleischmann with having "transformed a provincial second-rank orchestra into one of the world's best". Named as general administrator and artistic director of the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

in November 1985, Fleischmann turned down the post just days later.Staff
"FLEISCHMANN BACKS OUT OF PARIS OPERA POST"
''

'', December 7, 1985. Accessed June 20, 2010. Described by ''

'' as "a taskmaster and an office tyrant", Fleischmann was once described by an employee as "egocentric, completely unprincipled and yet incredibly brilliant monomaniac in music". Fleischmann also had a long-standing feud with ''

'' music critic Martin Bernheimer, whose backbiting criticism had a negative effect on morale in the orchestra. Bernheimer, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1982, called Fleischmann "ruthless, a manipulator, and very smart and very progressive". Fleischmann died at age 85 on June 13, 2010, in Los Angeles. He was survived by two daughters and a son.

References

External links

This interview with Ernest Fleischmann
o
ThoughtCast
which wa
perhaps his last
was also broadcast on

WGBH (FM) WGBH (89.7 MHz; branded as GBH without the " W" since August 31, 2020) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of National Public Radio (NPR) and affiliate of Public Radio Exchange (PRX), which ...

. He will be missed! {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischmann, Ernest 1924 births 2010 deaths German emigrants to the United States Impresarios Musicians from Frankfurt University of Cape Town alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) South African College of Music alumni Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to South Africa