Early life Max Goberman was born on 8 February 1911 in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania to a
Jewish couple, Morris Goberman and Aide (née Budilow). He studied violin with
Leopold Auer, and conducting with
Fritz Reiner at the
Curtis Institute of Music. He was a violinist with the
Philadelphia Orchestra before Reiner's recommendation gained him his first conducting appointment. He was Assistant Conductor for the
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo's 1939
Australian tour. That year he conducted
Aaron Copland's music for the documentary
The City, with the narrator
Morris Carnovsky. He married Jean Schneider and they had a son,
John Goberman.
1940s and Broadway career In 1941 his first
Broadway job was as Musical Director for three ballets at the Majestic Theater, including
Three Virgins and a Devil by
Agnes de Mille. It was Goberman who suggested that de Mille approach
Morton Gould to be her collaborator in
Fall River Legend – a suggestion she nearly rejected because she knew of Gould only through his radio broadcasts. In 1944 he conducted the Baltimore premiere of
Vincent Youmans’ Ballet Revue, on its pre-Broadway tour (it closed before reaching New York City). Although Youmans produced the show, he contributed no music; instead, Goberman conducted the Antar Ballet from
Rimsky-Korsakov’s second symphony,
Ravel’s
Daphnis and Chloe (both choreographed by
Massine, and three ballets by
Ernesto Lecuona with choreography by Eugene Van Grona. In 1945 he conducted the film score of
Histadrut, an American/Palestinian co-production. He orchestrated ''
The Beggar's Opera'' and conducted it on Broadway. Max Goberman's first musical was Bernstein's
On the Town in 1944. He later premiered
West Side Story in 1957; and was nominated for a
Tony Award for his involvement. His other work on Broadway included
Billion Dollar Baby (1945–46), ''
Where's Charley? (1948–50), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951), and Milk and Honey'' (1961). In 1948 he conducted at the inaugural season of the
National Ballet of Cuba.
Later life and death In 1960 he started a project to record all the symphonies of
Joseph Haydn with the
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, for his own subscription label, the Library of Recorded Masterpieces. Had he survived, it would have been the first complete recording of the symphonies. symphonies when he died suddenly at the end of 1962, aged only 51. Some of these recordings were later released on CBS's Odyssey label, but the sound was poor due to the centre channel being held back. The horn playing on
Symphony No. 48 Maria Theresia is still renowned. He started to record the complete works of
Antonio Vivaldi, but this project was never realised; he did, however, record over 70 works. He also recorded works by
Arcangelo Corelli (the 12 Concerti Grossi) and
William Boyce (the 8 symphonies). In 1938 he conducted for
Joseph Szigeti in a recording of works by
Bach,
Tartini and
Mozart. ==References==