Dorati, Antál (1906–1988)

US conductor, born in Hungary. He toured with ballet companies 1933–45 and went on to conduct orchestras in the USA and Europe in a career spanning more than half a century. Dorati gave many first performances of Béla Bartók's music and recorded all Haydn's symphonies with the Philharmonia Hungarica.

He studied at the Budapest Academy of Music with Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. He first conducted at the age of 18. In 1947 he became a US citizen and in 1948 conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. He was chief conductor of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Symphony Orchestra 1963–67, of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 1975–78, and of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra 1977–81. He also composed, and made a number of successful arrangements of pieces including Johann Strauss's Graduation Ball.