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Gaetano A. Molieri, 87, violist with Philadelphia Orchestra

Gaetano A. Molieri, 87, of South Philadelphia, a violist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, died of heart failure Friday, April 22, at Methodist Hospital.

Gaetano A. Molieri, 87, of South Philadelphia, a violist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, died of heart failure Friday, April 22, at Methodist Hospital.

Mr. Molieri played at the Academy of Music and on tours with the orchestra from 1970 until retiring in 1999.

"Gaetano was full of energy and excitement, and he played that way," said Roberto Diaz, former principal violist with the orchestra.

"He enjoyed what he did for a living, loved touring, and was always very positive," said Diaz, who is now president of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Mr. Molieri had a good relationship with the three music directors for whom he played in the orchestra. Eugene Ormandy invited him to tour with the orchestra in South America four years before he hired him. When Riccardo Muti became music director in 1980, Mr. Molieri, who spoke fluent Italian, often acted as his interpreter.

In 1993, Mr. Molieri was asked his opinion of Muti's successor, Wolfgang Sawallisch.

"He has a great degree of flexibility, of intuitive feeling, which takes the music into different realms. This is a man who lives up to his own ideals," Mr. Molieri said.

After he retired, he continued to play for the orchestra occasionally and performed when Muti returned for a concert in 2005.

Mr. Molieri began playing the violin when he was 5. Later, a music teacher decided Mr. Molieri's long arms and wide hands were perfect for the viola, and he was principal violist in the South Philadelphia High School orchestra.

At 17, he began studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers were Max Aronoff and William Primrose.

He joined the Kansas City Philharmonic at 21 and went on to play for the Houston Symphony Orchestra. In 1955, he joined the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. While there, he was a viola teacher and chamber music coach at the University of Minnesota.

During his career, Mr. Molieri played in concert with Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, performed as a soloist and with string quartets, and participated in music festivals.

He was nicknamed "The Count" by his orchestra colleagues for his dignified demeanor.

He loved travel, especially to Italy, and was an admirer of the Renaissance, said his cousin, Giovanna Cavaliere. It was appropriate, she said, that he died so close to Easter, a favorite holiday.

On several trips abroad, he attended High Mass on Easter at St. Mark's in Venice, she said.

He enjoyed Mediterranean cruises, and when the orchestra toured the Middle East, he took a cruise up the Nile.

"Gaetano was unbelievably adventurous and curious. He would travel alone and come back with 15 new friends," Diaz said.

Besides his cousin, Mr. Molieri is survived by an uncle, four nephews, and a niece.

Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, and from 9 to 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 28, at Monti-Rago Funeral Home, 2531 S. Broad St. A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 28, at Epiphany of Our Lord Church, 11th and Jackson Streets, Philadelphia. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.