120th Birthday of Dimitri Mitropoulos

Profile portrait of Dimitri Mitropoulos against a background of musical notation. Along the left inner edge of the coin, the inscriptions "120TH BIRTHDAY OF DIMITRI MITROPOULOS" and "HELLENIC REPUBLIC" appear in Greek. The issue year 2016 and a palmette — the mint mark of the Greek mint — are visible at upper left. The coin designer's monogram (Georgios Stamatopoulos) appears at lower right.

Dimitri Mitropoulos is one of the most important Greek musical figures of the 20th century. Born on 1 March 1896 in Athens, he studied at the Athens Conservatory and later in Brussels and Berlin, where he studied composition under Ferruccio Busoni, among others. Already in the 1920s and 1930s, he earned a reputation as a conductor and pianist in Europe that extended far beyond Greece. A particular hallmark was his practice of conducting from memory without a score — an unusual practice at the time that underscored his exceptional musical comprehension. Mitropoulos consistently championed contemporary works and conducted numerous world premieres, including pieces by Schoenberg, Berg and other representatives of New Music.

Mitropoulos's international career unfolded above all in the United States, where he first guest-conducted in 1936 and where, from 1937, he led the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. From 1950 to 1958, he served as chief conductor of the New York Philharmonic — one of the most renowned orchestras in the world. During this time he decisively shaped the ensemble and left a lasting mark as an interpreter, above all of late Romantic and modern orchestral literature. Despite his roots in the American musical world, Mitropoulos remained connected to Greek cultural life; Greece honoured him repeatedly as a national artistic figure. He died in 1960 in Milan during a rehearsal. With the issue of a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2016, Greece commemorates his 120th birthday and honours his worldwide work as a conductor and composer.