Spanish Conductor Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez has Died, Aged 74

Martínez conducted major international orchestras and composed two symphonies, an opera, and several concertos and chamber pieces  

Born in Granada in 1949 into a family of musicians, Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez took up conducting for the first time at the age of seven and earned his piano teacher’s diploma from the conservatory in the city of Alhambra at age 13. 

He studied piano, violin, and composition in the U.S. and Madrid, and took up orchestral conducting in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky. 

Martínez made his conducting debut in 1973 in Austria and performed two years later in Spain at the Granada Music and Dance Festival. Between 1976 and 1982, he was the principal conductor of the Vienna Opera, which also appointed him as a permanent guest conductor.

In 1984, he became principal conductor of the RTVE Orchestra, where he remained until 1987 when he became music director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela. Later, he served as principal conductor of the Basque National Orchestra from 1989 to 1993, and the Valencia Orchestra from 1997 to 2004. 

He was also the artistic and musical director of the New Finnish Opera Helsinki, principal conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, general music director of Bern Theater, and music director of the Bayreuth Easter Festival Orchestra.

For over five decades, he led top orchestras worldwide and often conducted without a score. He also composed symphonies, operas, and several concertos for piano, violin, flute, plus various chamber pieces.

He conducted the royal orchestras of London and Copenhagen; those of Bayreuth Easter Festival and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; the Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Bruckner (Linz), Staatskapelle Dresden, Suisse Romande, English Chamber Orchestra; opera theaters orchestras in Paris, Rome, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Massimo, Teatro Colón, La Fenice; plus radio orchestras of Bavaria, Cologne, Berlin, Holland, and Copenhagen.

Among his accolades included Honorary Medals from many German cities, and the Bavarian State Medal Encomienda de Número de la Orden del Mérito Civil. His acclaimed recordings are on labels such as Decca, Orfeo, RCA, Sony, Naxos, Hispavox, and Ondine, among others. 

“The death of Granada maestro Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez leaves a profound void in Andalusian music,” wrote Patricia del Pozo, Minister for Culture and Sport for Andalusia’s regional government on her X account, where Granada City Council remembered him as a “Gold Medalist of the City and cultural reference,” Todo Alicante reported. 

Martínez passed away suddenly in Málaga at the Santa Elena Hospital after a hospital admission with an undefined diagnosis. Our condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.