Eugene Ormandy Essentials

Born Jenő Blau in 1899, Eugene Ormandy moved to the U.S. in 1921 to kick off his conducting career. He auspiciously filled in for Arturo Toscanini as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra a decade later, and 1936 marked the start of his 44-year involvement with the institution, nurturing and developing its famously lush sound. Ormandy's work was a model of consistency and breadth, and his stint in Philadelphia ranks as one of the longest conducting runs at a single organisation. His prodigious recorded output with the orchestra remains one of the most satisfying and comprehensive bodies of work in 20th-century classical history.