Rafael Kubelik Essentials

Given his history as the young conductor of the Czech Philharmonic who refused to salute conquering Nazi officials, and who afterward escaped postwar communism, this musician's biography suggests an unwavering courage. Kubelik retained this quality after reaching America by programming a healthy slate of modern music (Hindemith, Bartók and Schoenberg), along with that of the Late Romantics, during his brief but notable tenure at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (In particular, Kubelik was an early defender of Schoenberg's long-misunderstood Violin Concerto.) He went on to a starry career, guesting at the New York Philharmonic and the Met, as well as with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, before returning to his native ensemble after the fall of communism. Unsurprisingly, some of the conductor's most lyrical and captivating recordings are of works by his countrymen Dvořák, Smetana, and Janáček.