Manuel Rosenthal

French composer and conductor

Manuel Rosenthal (18 June 1904 – 5 June 2003) was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerable list of compositions is mostly remembered for having orchestrated the popular ballet score Gaîté Parisienne from piano scores of Offenbach operettas, and for his recordings as a conductor.

Debussy: Orchestral works Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune, Images pour orchestre, Jeux, Nocturnes, La Mer; Orchestra of the Opéra de Paris, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. VEGA
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Rapsodie espagnole, Alborada del gracioso, Valses nobles et sentimentales; Orchestra of the Opéra de Paris, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. VEGA
Ravel: L'heure espagnole Géori Boué (Concepcion), Roger Bourdin (Ramiro), Orchestre National de France, conductor: Manuel Rosenthal. Paris 28 December 1944. IMV 027. Ibert: Concertino da camera for alto saxophone and eleven instruments, Debussy: Rapsodie, Loeffler: Poeme paien d'apres Virgile Marcel Mule, Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris, conductor Manuel Rosenthal. Paris, 1952, 2 EMI 85240. Glazounov: Suite from Raymonda Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris, conductor Manuel Rosenthal. Paris, 1952, 2 EMI 85240. Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris, conductor Manuel Rosenthal. Paris, 1952, 2 EMI 85240. Sauguet: Les caprices de Marianne Andrée Esposito (Marianne), Michel Sénéchal (Coelio), Camille Maurane (Octave), Orchestre Radio Lyrique, conductor: Manuel Rosenthal. Paris, 27–28 May 1959. SOCD 98/99
Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles Jeanine Micheau (Leila), Alain Vanzo (Nadir), Gabriel Bacquier (Zurga), Lucien Lovano (Nourabad), Chœur de la RTF, Orchestre Radio Lyrique, conductor: Manuel Rosenthal. Paris, 25 June 1959. GALA GL 100.504
Messiaen: Chronochromie Orchestre National de France, conductor Manuel Rosenthal. Ades 14122. Lalo: Symphonie espagnole, Camille Saint Saëns, violin concerto n°3. Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, conductor: Manuel Rosenthal. Eloquence 462 579 2 (1963). Satie: Parade, Trois Petite Pieces Montées, Socrate, En habit de cheval. French National Radio & Television Orchestra, Manuel Rosenthal. 1968. Everest EVERCD014
Offenbach: Pomme d'api, M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le . ., Mesdames de la Halle Mady Mesplé, Jean Philippe Lafont, Léonard Pezzino, Charles Burles, Michel Trempont, Michel Hamel; Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Ensemble Choral Jean Laforge, Conductor: Manuel Rosenthal. Monte Carlo 21–29 September 1982. EMI 3952972. Puccini: Tosca Jane Rhodes, Albert Lance, Gabriel Bacquier; Orchestra of the Opéra de Paris, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. VEGA VAL 18
Offenbach: La belle Hélène Jane Rhodes, Bernard Plantey, Jean Giraudeau, Michel Hamel, Jacques Doucet, Bernard Demigny, Andrine Forli; Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra Comique, Paris, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. Philips GL5664

Rosenthal was married twice. His first marriage was to a chorus girl, Mlle. Troussier, in 1927. He had begun a relationship with soprano Claudine Verneuil while still married to his first wife, but during his tenure in Seattle presented Claudine as his wife even though he had not divorced Troussier. His failure to declare Verneuil's true status led to his detention for six weeks on Ellis Island on the way back to Seattle in October 1951, in 1999 he published a small book, 'Crescendo vers Dieu', in which he examined the religious beliefs that were woven into his life story. He died in Paris, just short of his 99th birthday.