14 Facts About Dimitri Mitropoulos

Dimitri Mitropoulos's father owned a leather goods shop in downtown Athens.

Dimitri Mitropoulos was musically precocious, demonstrating his abilities at an early age.

Dimitri Mitropoulos studied music at the Athens Conservatoire as well as in Brussels and Berlin, with Ferruccio Busoni among his teachers.

Dimitri Mitropoulos made his US debut in 1936 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and he later settled in the country, becoming a citizen in 1946.

In 1949 Dimitri Mitropoulos began his association with the New York Philharmonic.

Dimitri Mitropoulos was initially co-conductor with Leopold Stokowski and became the sole music director in 1951.

Dimitri Mitropoulos expanded the Philharmonic's repertoire, commissioning works by new composers and championing the symphonies of Gustav Mahler.

Dimitri Mitropoulos recorded with the Minneapolis Symphony for RCA Victor during the 78-rpm era.

Dimitri Mitropoulos was represented on the Cetra Records label, most notably with an early recording of Richard Strauss's Elektra.

Dimitri Mitropoulos was noted for having an eidetic memory and for his monk-like life style due to his deeply religious, Greek Orthodox beliefs.

Dimitri Mitropoulos was "quietly known to be homosexual" and "felt no need for a cosmetic marriage".

Dimitri Mitropoulos was a close friend and mentor to William Bast.

Dimitri Mitropoulos died in Milan, Italy at the age of 64 of heart failure, while rehearsing Mahler's Third Symphony at the La Scala Opera House.

On 31 October 1960, two days before his death, Dimitri Mitropoulos conducted Mahler's Third Symphony with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra.