George Richard Marek, Date of Birth, Date of Death

    

George Richard Marek

American music executive and biographer

Date of Birth: 13-Jul-1902

Date of Death: 07-Jan-1987

Profession: biographer, music critic, journalist, music executive

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Cancer


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About George Richard Marek

  • George Richard Marek (13 July 1902 – 7 January 1987) was an American music executive and author of biographies of classical composers. Marek was born in Vienna, the son of dentist Martin Marek and Emily Weisberger.
  • From 1918, Marek studied at the University of Vienna until he emigrated to the United States in 1920, where he became a citizen in 1925.
  • He married Muriel Heppner the following year; the couple had one son, Richard. Marek's first job in the US was as a stock boy in the ostrich-feather department of a milliner, but he soon became involved in advertising.
  • From 1930 until 1950 he was vice president of the J.
  • D.
  • Tarcher Agency.
  • In 1950 Marek unsuccessfully attempted to gain RCA Victor's advertising account for Tarcher; instead, he was offered the position of manager of artists and repertory at RCA Victor.
  • Seven years later he became vice president and general manager of RCA Victor; he remained in that position until 1972. When he grew up in Vienna, Marek had regularly visited the Vienna State Opera; after his arrival in New York City, he became a devoted standee at the old Metropolitan Opera House.
  • Marek was the music editor of Good Housekeeping from 1941 until 1957 and a co-founder of the Reader's Digest Record Club.
  • He was for many years a panel member on the radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera Quiz. Marek introduced some pronounced changes in the marketing of classical music at RCA Victor.
  • Record jackets became more colorful and classical records were sold in drugstores and supermarkets.
  • He was responsible for the best selling album Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music in 1953.
  • Marek was instrumental in promoting the recordings of pianists Gary Graffman and Arthur Rubinstein and conductors Pierre Monteux, Fritz Reiner, and Arturo Toscanini. Marek continued in retirement as a consultant to RCA and the Reader's Digest Record Club.
  • He died at the age of 84 at St.
  • Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City; he was survived by his wife and their son, and two brothers, Carl and Frederick, both of Manhattan, and a sister, Anneliese Fish, of White Plains. Some of his books have been translated into other languages.
  • Marek also wrote magazine articles, e.g.
  • for Harper's Bazaar, and liner notes; he was nominated for the 1977 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes for Beethoven: The Five Piano Concertos, with Daniel Barenboim conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Arthur Rubinstein playing the piano.

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