Carl Grapentine noted the birthday of a former music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on his Almanac this morning. Before he took up the baton, this mystery maestro won first prize in violin upon graduating from the Paris Conservatory. While serving in the French army in World War Two, he was taken prisoner and spent two years in a Nazi labor camp. What’s the name of this conductor and composer who succeeded Fritz Reiner as head of the Chicago Symphony?
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