Dor ti was born in Budapest, his father a violinist with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. Dor ti studied music there, his teachers including Zolt n Kod ly and Leo Weiner for composition and B Bart k for piano, at the Franz Liszt Academy. He made his conducting debut in 1924 with the Budapest Royal Opera. He made his first recording with the London Philharmonic for the recording label His Master's Voice, which later became RCA. Over the course of his career ti made over 600 recordings.
Dor ti held posts as principal conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1945-48), practically creating that orchestra from scratch; the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1949-60), the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1963-66), which bid him a fond farewell playing his Symphony in Five Movements and his Madrigal Suite; the Stockholm Philharmonic (1966-70), with which he recorded his Symphony No. 1 and his Symphony No. 2, "Querela Pacis" on the BIS label, and taking that orchestra on its first tours ever; the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. (1970-77), which he rescued from bankruptcy and a players' strike; the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1977-81), restoring them to 'world-class status' in their newly renovated Orchestra Hall; and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1975-79). He conducted the world premiere of Tibor Serly's completion of Bart Viola Concerto with the Minneapolis Symphony in 1949. He made many recordings, notably of pieces by Bart k and Kod ly and the complete symphonies of Joseph Haydn with the Philharmonia Hungarica.
As well as composing wholly original pieces, he arranged pieces by Johann Strauss II for the balletGraduation Ball, as well as Offenbach's La Belle H ne and Bluebeard, and Mussorgsky's Fair at Sorotchinsk.
Queen Elizabeth II awared Dor ti Knight of the British Empire. His autobiography, Notes of Seven Decades, was published in 1979.
At the age of 18, Dorati began work at the Budapest Opera House, first as a rehearser, then as a conductor for opera and ballet productions and finally to his preeminent career on the symphonic concert stage.
Dorati makes no apology for being a tonalist, in fact (like many tonalists) he seems in his notes to be almost defensive about tonalism in what he perceives to be an era of atonalism or worse.
Dorati's Symphony No. 1 (1972) and No. 2 (1988) are available on a BIS CD, as are two works for choir and orchestra, Jesus oder Barabbas?
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