David Oppenheim (clarinetist)
| David Oppenheim | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
David Jerome Oppenheim April 13, 1922 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | November 14, 2007 (aged 85) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) |
Judy Holliday (m. 1948; div. 1957) Ellen Adler (m. 1957–76) Patricia Jaffe (m. 1987) |
David Jerome Oppenheim (April 13, 1922 – November 14, 2007) was an American clarinetist, and classical music and television producer. Oppenheim directed the Masterworks division of Columbia Records from 1950 to 1959. During this time he worked with numerous notable figures in the music world including Igor Stravinsky, with whom he formed a friendship, later producing for him. In the 1960s, he worked for the television production company Robert Saudek Associates and worked as a writer and producer for CBS from 1962 to 1967. His 1964 documentary about cellist Pablo Casals, Casals at 88, won the Prix Italia. Dean of the New York University School of the Arts (NYU) from 1969 to 1991, in 1985, he was the principal architect of the Tisch School of the Arts. One of his major achievements was developing the NYU arts programs into a major institution with courses offered in photography, cinema, musical theater, dramatic acting, and writing.
Oppenheim was born in Detroit in 1922 to Louis Oppenheim and Julia Nurko Oppenheim. His father owned a department store. He had one sibling, a brother, Stanley. At the age of 13, upon the death of his father, he and his family relocated to New York City, where he spent most of his life. He began playing the clarinet after this move and by age 20 was considered to be an accomplished player. He attended Juilliard and graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 1943. During World War II he served as an anti-tank gunner.
David Diamond's Quintet for clarinet, 2 violas and 2 cellos (1950) was written for Oppenheim and was first performed in 1952. Throughout the 1950s, Oppenheim directed the Masterworks division of Columbia Records, a position he held until 1959. He recorded Leonard Bernstein's Clarinet Sonata, overseen by Aaron Copland. Other recordings include the Brahms Clarinet Trio, Op. 114 with Casals and Eugene Istomin at the 1955 Prades Festival, and both the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115, and the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, K. 581, with the Budapest String Quartet in 1959. Also in 1955, he worked with Stravinsky who conducted his "Story of a Soldier". The two became friends, and Oppenheim later produced several of his works and documentaries.
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