Leopold Anthony Stokowski
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Leopold Stokowski, the flamboyant conductor with the signature white mane, led the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1912 to 1938, turning it into one of the world’s great ensembles. He pioneered stereophonic sound with Walt Disney’s Fantasia 1940, a landmark film that combined classical music and animation. Stokowski founded the American Symphony Orchestra at age 80 in 1962 and was satirized in popular culture, most notably in Bugs Bunny cartoons. His innovations in orchestral seating and recording fidelity shaped classical music performance.
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Leopold Stokowski — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was born on April 18, 1882 in Marylebone, London, to Annie Marion Moore and Kopernik Jozef Boleslawowicz Stokowski. His father was a Polish-born cabinetmaker who instilled a love for music in the household. Stokowski studied at the Royal College of Music and later at The Queen’s College. By his early twenties, he had conducted in London and substituted for the Royal Philharmonic Society.
Stokowski’s breakthrough came when he became music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1909 to 1912. His true impact began when he took the podium of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1912. Over the next 26 years, he molded the ensemble into a world-renowned institution, famous for its rich, lush string sound. He introduced pioneering seating arrangements, seating first and second violins together, a standard practice today.
In 1940, Stokowski collaborated with Walt Disney on Fantasia, conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in a groundbreaking film that used stereophonic sound — then called Fantasound. He had been experimenting with stereo since 1931. Stokowski also appeared as himself in films like One Hundred Men and a Girl 1937 and Carnegie Hall 1947.
After leaving Philadelphia, he founded the New York City Symphony in 1944, served as music director of the Houston Symphony from 1955 to 1961, and made his belated Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961 conducting Turandot — at age 78 and with a broken foot. In 1962, he founded the American Symphony Orchestra to train young musicians and continued recording; he signed a contract at 94 that would have kept him active until 100.
Stokowski married three times. His first marriage was to pianist Olga Samaroff in 1911, ending in divorce in 1923. He then married Evangeline Johnson in 1926, with whom he had three daughters: Sonya, Gloria Luba, and Andrea Sadja. That marriage ended in 1937. In 1945, he married Gloria Vanderbilt; they had two sons: Leopold Stanislaus and Christopher, born in 1952. The marriage to Vanderbilt lasted until 1955. Stokowski was known for his energetic lifestyle: at age 78, he broke his foot playing touch football with his sons by Vanderbilt, then aged 9 and 11.
Stokowski’s impact on orchestral sound and recording technology is immeasurable. He was the first conductor to record Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the United States for RCA Victor. His seating innovations became standard, and his lush orchestral style influenced generations of conductors. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997, and a 32-cent US stamp in the Legends of American Music series featured his likeness in 1997. The character Leo from the animated series Little Einsteins is named after him. Stokowski is most remembered for his flamboyant persona, his role in Fantasia, and for making classical music accessible to the masses through radio and film.
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Little-known facts about Leopold Stokowski — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
A chance meeting with Walt Disney at Chasen’s restaurant led to Stokowski volunteering to conduct for Disney’s planned The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which expanded into Fantasia. Stokowski himself suggested the title Fantasia, meaning a musical composition without strict form.
He was memorably satirized in the Bugs Bunny cartoon Long-Haired Hare, where Bugs enters a concert hall and the players exclaim Leopold! Leopold! Leopold! Stokowski’s baton is deliberately broken, and he conducts using his characteristic gestures.
Stokowski was responsible for making the Philadelphia Orchestra into one of the great orchestras of the world. When he began conducting it in 1912, it was virtually unknown; by the 1920s it was world famous, and he gave it the rich, lush sound for which it is celebrated.
He is generally regarded as the first conductor to seat the first and second violins together, a seating plan that has become standard in many orchestras today.
Stokowski made his long overdue Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Puccini’s Turandot in 1961, at age 78, with a broken foot suffered two weeks earlier playing touch football with his sons by Gloria Vanderbilt, then ages 9 and 11.
He made the first U.S. recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for RCA Victor.
Stokowski founded the New York City Symphony in 1944.
He was, until the era of Leonard Bernstein, one of the most popular conductors of the 20th century. His radio work and recordings made him a household name, and a concert was often promoted simply with Stokowski and the date.
Stokowski could duplicate the rich sound he achieved with the Philadelphia Orchestra with virtually every other orchestra he conducted.
He signed a recording contract at age 94 that would have kept him active until he turned 100; he died a year later.
Stokowski conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra continuously from 1912 to 1938, returning in 1940 to conduct them for Walt Disney’s Fantasia.
He was spoofed in the Bugs Bunny cartoon Long-Haired Hare 1949 and in Hollywood Steps Out 1941.
One of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, Stokowski was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements in the recording industry at 1600 Vine Street.
He was always experimenting with different orchestral seating plans.
Friz Freleng’s 1937 cartoon She Was an Acrobat’s Daughter features a canine caricature of him called Stickoutski.
Stokowski founded the American Symphony Orchestra in New York, a training orchestra for young musicians, in 1962.
One of his greatest concerns was achieving ultimate fidelity in sound reproduction. He experimented with stereophonic sound as early as 1931, and his first great achievement was the Fantasound soundtrack for Fantasia, a breakthrough in its time.
He was spoofed in Slick Hare 1947.
After his death, he has two granddaughters and one grandson by his son Stan Stokowski: Aurora born March 1983, Abra born c. 1986, and Myles born 1998.
He founded the All America Youth Symphony in 1940.
Stokowski was pictured on one of a set of eight 32¢ US commemorative postage stamps in the Legends of American Music series, issued September 12, 1997, celebrating classical composers and conductors.
He was the father of Stan Stokowski and Christopher Stokowski born January 31, 1952 by third wife Gloria Vanderbilt.
Stokowski served as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1909 to 1912.
Leo from the animated series Little Einsteins 2005 is named after him.
He was the uncle of George Hickenlooper Sr. and granduncle of George Hickenlooper.
Stokowski once claimed that his birth name was Leopold Stokes.
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