Juan José Castro

Juan José Castro ( born March 7, 1895 in Avellaneda, † September 3, 1968 in Buenos Aires ) was an Argentine composer and conductor.

Life

Castro was a student of Manuel Posadas, Constantino Gaito and Eduardo Fornarini. In the 1920s, he completed his training in Paris under Vincent d' Indy and Edouard Risler. In 1925 he returned to Buenos Aires, where he worked primarily as a conductor. He founded the Sociedad del Cuarteto de Cámara and the Orquesta Renacimiento. In 1928 he conducted the Argentine premiere of Manuel de Falla's El amor brujo. In 1929 he joined the Grupo Renovacion and was leader of the orchestra of the Teatro Colón (up to 1943). From 1939 to 1943 he was a professor at the Conservatory of Buenos Aires.

Castro's international career began in the 1940s when he conducted in the U.S., Mexico, Peru and Chile. Since the 1950s, he also appeared in England, Switzerland, France, Spain, Norway and Finland, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. In 1955 he returned to Argentina, where he led the National Symphony Orchestra until 1960.

His compositions find operas, a ballet, symphonies and chamber music. Even his brothers José María Castro and Washington were known as composers.

Works

• Biblical Symphony, 1932
• Mekhano, Ballet, 1934
• Sinfonia Argentina, 1934
• Piano Concerto, 1941
• La Zapatera prodigiosa, opera by Federico Garcia Lorca, in 1943, UA 1948
• String Quartet, 1944
• El Llanto de las Sierras, 1947
• Proserpina and the stranger ( Proserpina y el extranjero ), opera by Omar del Carlo, 1951
• Blood Wedding (Bodas de sangre ), opera by Federico Garcia Lorca, 1952, UA 1956
• Corales criollos no 3, 1953
• Toccata para piano (a Claudio Arrau ), 1958

• Composer of classical music ( 20th century)
• Argentine composer
• Conductor
• Argentine musicians
• University teachers ( Buenos Aires )
• Born in 1895
• Died in 1968
• Man