Ormandy, Eugene

(born Nov. 18, 1899, Budapest, Austria-Hungary—died March 12, 1985, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. conductor. A violin prodigy, he became professor of violin at the Budapest Royal Academy at age 17. In 1921 he went to New York City, where he played in and conducted a theatre orchestra; he gained national prominence as conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1931–36). He shared conductorship of the Philadelphia Orchestra with Leopold Stokowski for two years before becoming sole conductor in 1938, and he led the orchestra until he was made laureate in 1980. Ormandy shaped the orchestra's sound by developing the lush, velvety string colour that became its trademark, and the orchestra made scores of recordings under him.