Kazimierz Kord began his musical studies in Poland, learning the piano, organ and cello, and subsequently studying piano with Nilsena at the Leningrad Conservatory, where he took the first prize in piano in 1955. He returned to Poland to continue his studies in conducting and composition (with the composer Artur Malawski), at the Kraków Conservatory from 1956 to 1960, and made his conducting debut at the Warsaw Opera in 1960. Two years later he was appointed as chief conductor at the Kraków Opera, where he also acted as the stage director for several productions, and in 1969 became chief conductor of the Polish National Radio and Television Orchestra based in Katowice, remaining in this post until 1973. Having made a highly successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1972, conducting Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades (the first production of a Russian opera to be performed in its original language at the Met), Kord made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1976 with another major work by Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin.

In 1977 he became chief conductor of Poland’s foremost orchestra, the Warsaw National Philharmonic, directing the orchestra until the end of its centenary celebrations in 2001. From the beginning of his period with the orchestra, with which he toured extensively, Kord worked to extend its repertoire, with the result that operas and oratorios were added to its programmes in addition to the more usual symphonic works. Kord was also an assiduous supporter of contemporary Polish composers, such as Lutosławski, Penderecki, Górecki and Kilar. After 2001 he was given the title of conductor laureate and continued to maintain close contact with the orchestra. He has also held a number of positions outside Poland, although he has not pursued the typical career of the itinerant maestro. Succeeding Ernest Bour, he was chief conductor of the South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra at Baden-Baden from 1980 to 1986; while in the USA he was principal guest conductor with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1982, and worked closely with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra of Orange County, California, between 1989 and 1991. He continues to return to conduct both of these orchestras.

Kord is very much in the traditional mould of the conductor who works predominantly with a single orchestra for an extended period of time, and achieves consistent music making of a very high, if not always spectacular, standard. His interpretations are deeply thought through, and achieve an excellent balance between technical polish and intensity of expression. His discography is not large, but contains a number of recordings of interest, including a finely-observed account for Decca of Massenet’s opera Don Quichotte, with Nicolai Ghiaurov in the title role.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Patmore (A–Z of Conductors, Naxos 8.558087–90).