Person
Mendoza Lassalle, César de (1910-1999)Other forms
Valladolid (España) 1910-01-13 - Grosrouvre (Yvelines, Francia) 1999
Spanish orchestra conductor and businessman. He was born on January 13 of 1910 in Valladolid (Spain). He was the nephew of the orchestra conductor and composer José Lassalle (1876-1932). He started his musical education in his hometown with the support of his uncle. During the decade of 1920, he studied in Madrid with Julio Gómez. What is more, he frequented the rehearsals of the orchestra that his uncle conducted in Madrid, this being where his interest in being an orchestra conductor started. During this time, he was in contact with great names such as Gustav Mahler. He met Manuel de Falla in 1927 during a concert offered by José Lassalle. In 1930 he has given the title of first class on Musical Theory by the Conservatory of Madrid alongside some other classmates. He finished his musical studies in 1934 in Pau (France), where he started conducting the Conservatory's orchestra. He came back to Spain in 1935, he conducted the Symphonic Orchestra of Madrid, and since that moment onwards he worked with the main national music formations. As a great admirer of Falla's work, he conducted "Noches en los jardines de España" in 1936 at the Casino Palace, as well as other works such as "El amor brujo" or "Siete canciones populares españolas". He kept correspondence with Manuel de Falla since 1937. During the Spanish Civil War, he was in charge of the Orquesta Sinfónico-Patriótica of Zaragoza, a formation with which he performed charity concerts. In 1939, he created the "Mes Musical" magazine in San Sebastián and, a year later, he founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of Barcelona. On November 9 of 1940, he performed the "Concierto de Aranjuez" by Joaquín Rodrigo for the first time in the Palau de la Música Catalana with the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Barcelona. He travelled to South America in 1942, where he conducted great orchestras with a symphonic and ballet repertoire. He came back to Spain and took charge of the Teatro de la Zarzuela orchestra for several seasons. He retired from the music scene in the sixties. He spent his last years in Grosrouvre, in Montfort-l'Amaury (France), where he died in 1999.
Date of the event: 1936 - 1939