FITELBERG, GRZEGORZ

FITELBERG, GRZEGORZ (Gregor; 1879–1953), conductor and composer. Born in Dvinsk, Latvia, Fitelberg became conductor of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (1906–11), the Vienna Opera (1912–13), and, between 1914 and 1920, the Petrograd Musikalnya Drama Orchestra, the Moscow Bolshoi, and Diaghilev Ballet orchestras. He then returned to the Warsaw Philharmonic and formed the Polish radio's symphony orchestra. He spent World War II mainly in the U.S., and returned to the same orchestra, which he conducted until his death. Fitelberg's compositions include two symphonies (1905 and 1907), two overtures (1905 and 1906), and two orchestral rhapsodies. His son, JERZY FITELBERG (1903–1951), also a composer, was born in Warsaw and died in New York. He wrote mainly chamber and orchestral music in a neoclassical style, sometimes using Polish folk idioms.