Max Goberman was born on 8 February 1911^[1] in Philadelphia. He studied violin with Leopold Auer,^[2] and conducting with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music. He was a violinist with the Philadelphia Orchestra before Reiner's recommendation gained him his first conducting appointment.^[3] He was Assistant Conductor for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo's 1939 Australian tour. That year he conducted Aaron Copland's music for the documentary The City, with the narrator Morris Carnovsky.^[4][5]

In 1941 his first Broadway job was as Musical Director for three ballets at the Majestic Theater, including Three Virgins and a Devil by Agnes de Mille. It was Goberman who suggested that de Mille approach Morton Gould to be her collaborator in Fall River Legend – a suggestion she nearly rejected because she knew of Gould only through his radio broadcasts.^[6]

In 1944 he conducted the Baltimore premiere of Vincent Youmans’ Ballet Revue, on its pre-Broadway tour (it closed before reaching New York City). AlthoughVincent Youmans produced the show, he contributed no music; instead, Goberman conducted the Antar Ballet from Rimsky-Korsakov’s second symphony, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe (both choreographed by Massine, and three ballets by Ernesto Lecuona with choreography by Eugene Van Grona.^[7]

In 1945 he conducted the film score of Histadrut, an American/Palestinian co-production.^[8] He orchestrated The Beggar's Opera^[9] and conducted it on Broadway.

Max Goberman's first musical was Bernstein's On the Town in 1944. He later premiered West Side Story in 1957. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his involvement in West Side Story.^[10]

His other work on Broadway included Billion Dollar Baby (1945–46), Where's Charley? (1948–50), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951), and Milk and Honey (1961).^[11]

In 1948 he conducted at the inaugural season of the National Ballet of Cuba.^[12]

In 1960 he started a project to record all the symphonies of Joseph Haydn with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, for his own subscription label, the Library of Recorded Masterpieces.^[13] Had he survived, it would have been the first complete recording of the symphonies.^[14] He had completed only 40 (or 45)^[15] symphonies when he died suddenly at the end of 1962, aged only 51.^[16] Some of these recordings were later released on CBS's Odyssey label, but the sound was poor due to the centre channel being held back.^[17] The horn playing on Symphony No. 48 Maria Theresia is still renowned.^[14][18]

He started to record the complete works of Antonio Vivaldi, but this project was never realised; he did, however, record over 70 works.^[2] His recording of Vivaldi's Concerto in C for mandolin, strings and harpsichord was heard on the soundtrack of Kramer vs. Kramer.^[19] He also recorded works by Arcangelo Corelli (the 12 Concerti Grossi) and William Boyce (the 8 symphonies).^[20] In 1938 he conducted for Joseph Szigeti in a recording of works by Bach, Tartini and Mozart.^[21]