André Cluytens was a Belgian-born conductor who became a fixture in the orchestral and operatic worlds of France in the 1950s and '60s until his death in 1967 with a distinguished approach to classic Russian repertoire and German romanticism as well as the major French composers. A French citizen since World War II, he was prolific in the recording studio as well as in concert halls and opera houses. He earned one Grammy Award nomination for Best Opera Recording for 'Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov' in 1963.
Born in Antwerp, his musical family included his father Alphonse Cluytens, conductor of the Théâtre Royal Français Opera House. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and joined his father's company where in 1927 he became the house conductor for opera and ballet. He had stints conducting at the Théâtre du Capitole of Toulouse and the Opéra National de Lyon and after the war he was musical director at the Opéra-Comique in Paris for six years. He conducted several orchestras around the world and made a splash at the Bayreuth Festival in 1955 with his rendition of the Wagner opera 'Tannhäuser'. He conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Paris Opera. He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, just west of Paris, in 1967 at the age of 62.
