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Sir Eugene Goossens (Camden Town, London, - Hillingdon, ): English conductor and composer. His father and grandfather, also named Eugène Goossens, of Belgian origin, were also conductors. His brothers were Leon Goossens (1897-1988), famous oboist, and Adolphe Goossens (1896-1916), horn player, his sisters Marie (1894-1991) and Sidonie Goossens (1899-2004) famous harpists. Eugene Goossens was one of the pioneers who recorded symphonical music in the acoustic period (together with Sir Thomas Beecham, Albert Coates, Sir Edward Elgar, Hamilton Harty, Alick Maclean, Willem Mengelberg, Arturo Toscanini, Percy Pitt, (Sir) Landon Ronald and Felix Weingartner, to name a few). Some highlights of his conducting career: 1923-1931: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra 1931-1946: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (successor of Fritz Reiner) 1947-1956: Sydney Symphony Orchestra director NSW State Conservatoire 1955: knighted: Sir Eugene Goossens. 1956: Scandal for smuggling pornographic material and his relationship with Rosaleen Norton, a woman interested in the occult and erotica. He had to retire from his functions and returned to England in disgrace. Igor Stravinsky wrote the symphonic poem Le chant du rossignol in 1917, an adaptation from his opera Le rossignol (1914), based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The nightingale (1843). The symphonic debut was 6 december 1919 in Geneva, directed by Ernest Ansermet and his Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Igor Stravinsky: Le chant du rossignol Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra c.b. Eugene Goossens 78rpm 30 cm: Victor DM 1041 11-9097~9099 Recorded: 1945 01 25 Link to my 78rpm and LP collection at : @satyr-78rpm
