Willem van Ottetloo



Willem van Otterloo (Winterswijk, 27 December 1907 – Melbourne, 27 July 1978) was a Dutch conductor and composer. Born in Winterswijk, in the province of Gelderland, Van Otterloo spent much of his youth in Utrecht, where his father, a Dutch railway inspector, had been transferred. After starting his medical studies at Utrecht University he moved on to the Amsterdam Conservatory where he studied composition with Sem Dresden and cello with Max Oróbio de Castro.

After graduating in 1932, Van Otterloo was directly appointed cellist at the Utrechts Stedelijk Orkest (Utrecht City Orchestra - OSU) of which he soon became first assistant, then second and later first director. In the same year he won a Concertgebouw composition prize for his Suite n. 3. In 1949 he was appointed chief conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague and between 1962 and 1972 also of the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in Hilversum.

Under his direction, the Residentie Orkest enjoyed great success, especially in the 1950s and this also resulted in a lucrative recording contract with Philips Records. Van Otterloo made many gramophone recordings, especially with the Hague Residentie, but also with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, the Orchester des Concerts Lamoureux and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. For Van Otterloo the 1973-1974 concert season was his last as director of the Residentie.

He spent eleven years in Australia where from 1969 to 1970 he was director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and from 1973 to 1978 of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

He died at the age of 70 in St Kilda East, near Melbourne, following a car accident which occurred shortly after a concert with the Sydney Symphony. His body was transferred to The Hague for cremation.



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