| Biography | Henry Warwick Braithwaite (born 9 January 1896, Dunedin; died 1971) was a New Zealand-born orchestra conductor. He worked mostly in Great Britain and was especially known for his work in opera.
Braithwaite served in the New Zealand armed forces in France during World War I. After the war, he studied music at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
From 1932 to 1940 Braithwaite was conductor of the Vic-Wells, later the Sadler's Wells Opera Company. He led the Scottish Orchestra from 1940 to 1946, after which he moved to conduct ballet and opera at Covent Garden, London. He returned to New Zealand in 1953 to conduct the National Orchestra. He was artistic director of the National Opera of Australia in 1954. He conducted the Welsh National Opera from 1956 to 1960, when he returned to Sadler's Wells. He retired in 1968. His son is the conductor Nicholas Braithwaite. |