16 Facts About Robert Craft

Robert Lawson Craft was an American conductor and writer.

Robert Craft is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.

Robert Craft became particularly interested in early music, such as that of Claudio Monteverdi, Carlo Gesualdo, and Heinrich Schutz, and in contemporary music by the composers of the Second Viennese School and others.

Robert Craft met Stravinsky in 1948, and from then until the composer's death in 1971, Robert Craft worked with Stravinsky in a variety of roles, eventually evolving into a full artistic partnership.

Robert Craft compiled the libretti for Stravinsky's The Flood and A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer, and lived with Igor and Vera Stravinsky in Hollywood and later in New York City.

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Robert Craft remained close to the composer's widow until her death in 1982.

Shortly after Stravinsky's death, Robert Craft married the composer's longtime nurse, Rita Christiansen, but the marriage did not endure.

Robert Craft's survivors include a son from that marriage, Alexander; a sister, Phyllis Crawford; his second wife, the former Alva Celauro Minoff, a singer and actress; two stepchildren, Edward Minoff and Melissa Minoff; and four grandchildren.

Robert Craft died on November 10,2015, at age 92, at his home in Gulf Stream, Florida.

Robert Craft collaborated with Stravinsky on a series of books that covered various musical and non-musical subjects: Conversations with Igor Stravinsky ; Memories and Commentaries ; Expositions and Developments ; Dialogues and a Diary ; Themes and Episodes ; and Retrospectives and Conclusions.

Robert Craft conducted most of the major US orchestras, as well as in Canada, Europe, Russia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Robert Craft was the first American to conduct Alban Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu and Hindemith's Cardillac.

Robert Craft led the world premieres of Stravinsky's later, dodecaphonic works: Agon, The Flood, Abraham and Isaac, Variations, Introitus, Requiem Canticles, and his Bach orchestration Vom Himmel Hoch.

Robert Craft was a two-time recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque, as well as the Edison Prize for his recordings of music by Varese and Stravinsky.

Robert Craft remained in a vanguard position in relation to 20th-century art music throughout his life.

In 2002, Robert Craft was awarded the International Prix du Disque at the Cannes Music Festival.