Carl von Garaguly

Hungarian violinist and conductor

Carl von Garaguly (28 December 1900 – 18 October 1984), also known as Carl Garaguly, was a Hungarian violinist and conductor who spent much of his working life in Scandinavia. He was born in Budapest, and worked many years in Gothenburg and Stockholm, Sweden, both as violinist and as a conductor.

Garaguly was a child prodigy, performing in public from the age of 6, having received his first violin lessons from his father. By the age of 10 he was undertaking concert tours. He studied violin with Jenő Hubay at the Hungarian State Academy in 1907–08, and with Henri Marteau at the Berlin High School for Music from 1914 to 1916, During war service he made concert tours for the Red Cross before teaching for a time at the Conservatory of Arad, Transylvannia. He continued as deputy leader up until being appointed principal conductor of the orchestra from 1942 until 1953. His primary repertoire interest was modern music, but he also conducted the major classics. His rehearsal and preparation was much admired and the orchestra became more reliable technically during his tenure.

Berlin Classics have issued recordings of Garaguly conducting the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra in Sibelius Symphonies 1 and 7, the Háry János Suite by Kodály, pieces by Johann Strauss and a suite from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district, Op. 29 by Shostakovich. In their series of violin concertos with Kai Laursen, Danacord has several where the conductor is Garaguly leading the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra: Concerto for Violin in A major, Op. 6 by Svendsen, Concerto for Violin in G major by Ludvig Holm, Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 20 by Peder Gram, Concerto for Violin in G major, Op. 11 by Hakon Børresen, Concerto for Violin in D major by Enna, Concerto for Violin in B minor, Op. 27 by Gustav Helsted, Concerto for Violin, Op. 48 by Emborg and the Chamber Concerto no 9 for Violin and Viola, Op. 39 by Holmboe. Carl Nielsen's Symphony No 2 and Suite for String Orchestra were recorded by Garaguly with the Tivoli Orchestra (Vox). Other discs listed by CHARM are Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Victor Schiøler, piano (1945, Tono), Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major also with Schiøler, (1947 HMV), Brahms Symphony No. 1 by the Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Berlin (1957 Eterna), Sibelius Tapiola, also in Berlin, Lars Erik Larsson's Music for orchestra, Op. 40 and Hilding Rosenberg's Concerto for string orchestra. A recording of Garaguly conducting for Jussi Björling on 9 June 1954 in Bergen has been issued on the Bluebell label. As leader of the Garaguly Quartet, he is heard in recordings of Stenhammar's String Quartet No. 5 in C major, Op. 29, Atterberg's String quartet in B, Op 11/2, Larsson's Intima Miniatyrer Op. 20, and Rosenberg's String Quartet No 4. On one disk of Caprice CAP 21620 a range of his solo violin recordings have been reissued.