Conductor and composer; born 20 July 1910, died 16 March 2004 in Přerov, Moravia.
Biography
Tauský came from a highly musical Czech family. His mother sang at the Vienna State Opera under Gustav Mahler. Tauský studied with Leoš Janáček and became a repetiteur and conductor at Brno Opera. His Jewish ancestry meant that he was forced to flee his home country with the arrival of the Nazis. At first he fled to France and volunteered for the Free Czech Army. However, after the fall of France he emigrated to England.
Between 1945 and 1949 Vilém worked as musical director of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, and in 1951 became music director of Welsh National Opera. From 1956 to 1966 he was principle conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra and regularly appeared on the radio show Friday Night is Music Night. From 1966 to 1991 he was director of opera and Head of Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In 1979 he published his memoirs under the title Vilem Tausky Tells his Story, which his wife Peggy Mallett co-authored. Tauský and Mallett were married from 1948 until her death in 1982. Also in 1979, Tauský was honoured as a Freeman of the City of London and in 1981 was made a CBE.
