BERLIN (AP) – German musician Kurt Masur, director of major orchestras such as the Gewandhaus of Leipzig and the New York Philharmonic, has died. He was 88.
The president of the New York Philharmonic, Matthew Vanbesien, said that “with the deepest sadness communicate on behalf of the family Masur and the New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur, our inspiring musical director, 1991-2002 and music director emeritus, died “on Saturday.
Masur served as musical director of the Philharmonic for 11 years, one of the longest periods in the history of the orchestra, and “set a level and left a legacy that survive today,” wrote Vanbesien.
“What I remember most vividly is the Masur profound conviction that music is an expression of humanism. We experience it in the most powerful way after 11 / Sep when he led the Philharmonic in a moving performance of ‘A German Requiem “by Brahms and the musicians of the orchestra gave free concerts” around the place where the Twin Towers stood, Vanbesien said. “New Yorkers are still experiencing this humanist legacy in the free annual Memorial Day concert of the war dead, created by him.”
Born July 18, 1927 Brieg, Germany -now Brzeg, Polonia_ , Masur studied piano, composition and conducting at the College of Music in Leipzig. In 1955 he was appointed director of the Dresden Philharmonic, in the then East Germany.
For 26 years Masur led the Gewandhaus of Leipzig. The celebration of German reunification, October 3, 1990, directed the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven.
After reunification, led the London Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France and other groups in three continents.
Leipzig was one of the highlights of the pro-democracy demonstrations that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the East German communist regime. Masur was part of a group that is credited with having prevented the repression of demonstrations.
But his passion was always music, and him having tamed the New York Philharmonic was due, considered a unmanageable set of egotistical when succeeded Zubin Mehta in 1991.
Masur “everyone got to concentrate on the product of what we do,” said concertmaster Glenn Dicterow before the departure of the Director in 2002 . Thanks to him, the orchestra “no longer the bad boy of music.”
The current director of the Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert, said “I Philharmonic audiences have much to thank. “
Masur was appointed emeritus musical director, a title bestowed previously only to Leonard Bernstein.
He was principal conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2000 to 2007 and music director of the Orchestre National France from 2002 to 2008. In 2007, when he turned 80, he led the two orchestras together at a concert in London.
He was also named guest conductor fee Israel Philharmonic.
“The role of the director has had to change because the orchestras have become much stronger,” Masur said een told German Press Agency dpa in 2013.
“The director was a kind of dictator, was untouchable, “he added. “Now it is no longer the case. Now it is to achieve such a strong association between the director and the orchestra orchestra intuitively follows the director what he wants. “
He is survived by his third wife, the Japanese soprano Tomoko, and five children including Ken-David Masur, deputy director of the San Diego Symphony.
The New York Philharmonic said a funeral in private and a public tribute will take place.
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