Spanish Conductor Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos Dies of Cancer at 80, Watch His Last Concert with Detroit in Dvorak

If Spain had a father figure of classical music, Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos was it, though there were periods when he was more popular outside of his native country than in it. Yet his heart remained forever in Spain, and it is in that country that he passed away today, aged 80. His recent announcement that he was retiring from conducting due to health reasons, that he was suffering from cancer, had sent shock and sadness through the music world, but his death only a week later was to most entirely unexpected.

It was only in 2011 that he was named Musical America's Conductor of the Year, and he had deep affiliations with various orchestras in the United States - notably the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra where he had served as Chief Guest Conductor, the Boston Symphony (where in recent years he often deputized for a then-ailing music director, James Levine) and the Detroit Symphony. The DSO today posted a video of the orchestra in performance with Fruhbeck De Burgos "in loving tribute."

In his long career he also held posts at orchestras such as the Dresden Philharmonic, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Runndfunkorchester Berlin, the Montreal Symphony, Vienna Symphony, the Bilbao Orchestra, the RAI National Symphony and others. His most recent music directorship was the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (which he resigned early because of the health issues). He made some excellent recordings, not least of Spanish music, and a fiery Carmen for EMI, starring Jon Vickers and Grace Bumbry.

Tributes have been pouring in, with the Philadelphia Orchestra's music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin posting on Facebook, "A great loss. Thank you for everything, Maestro. You are forever in the hearts of the Philadelphia Orchestra family."

The violinist Alexandre Da Costa, who worked often with Fruhbeck De Burgos, commented in an email, "Getting to know and play numerous violin concerti with Maestro Fruhbeck de Burgos was an incredible honour, and what he taught me in rehearsals and on stage is forever embedded in my playing and soul."