Well, dog my cats! Kurt Masur gets his own Google doodle, as you will find when doing Google searches today, the 91st anniversary of the conductor’s birth.
https://www.cnet.com/news/google-doodle-celebrates-renowned-conductor-kurt-masur/
I’ll be playing some of Masur’s recordings this afternoon, from 4 to 6 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Then stay tuned for “Music from Marlboro” at 6!
When Kurt Masur died two years ago at the age of 88, many of his obituaries lauded him as the conductor who rebuilt the New York Philharmonic. Masur, longtime kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, brought no-nonsense discipline and a meat-and-potatoes diet of Beethoven and Brahms to Manhattan’s flagging flagship ensemble.
He may not have always been the most exciting conductor, or the most charismatic, but he exuded authority and demanded respect. This was the man who managed to get a new concert hall built in East Germany during the Cold War and was permitted to lead the Gewandhaus Orchestra, ensconced behind the Iron Curtain, on international tours. In 1989, when violence threatened to erupt in the streets, Masur brokered peace, inviting protesters in to his concert hall to meet with the East German leadership.
An unlikely candidate for the directorship of the New York Philharmonic, he improved the sound of both the orchestra and its hall, brought in new players like principle cellist Carter Brey, and began collaborating with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Interestingly, given his devotion to the core repertoire, Masur during his New York tenure also spearheaded the commissioning of over 40 new works.
In addition, he held important posts with the Orchestre National de France, the London Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, and, earlier in his career, the Dresden Philharmonic.
I hope you’ll join me today, on what would have been Masur’s 90th birthday, as we listen to a selection of his recordings, including music by Felix Mendelssohn, Max Bruch, and Franz Liszt. We remember the maestro, from noon to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
PHOTO: Kurt Masur with the London Philharmonic at his old stomping ground, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, in 2010
The New York Philharmonic’s “Kapellmeister,” Kurt Masur, has died.
I attended one of his concerts in Philadelphia, back in 1990, in which he presented Strauss’ “Death and Transfiguration” on the same program with Brahms’ “A German Requiem.” I still remember it, so it must have been pretty good. With Masur you could always count on solid performances, though you were pretty much guaranteed he wasn’t going to do anything to scare the horses.
His reputation rests comfortably in the thick of the bratwurst and sauerkraut repertoire. I am thankful that he kept enough breadcrumbs in his pocket that he was able to stray a little off the beaten path every once in a while in order to give us recordings like those of the Bruch violin concertos, with Salvatore Accardo (ranging beyond the familiar Concerto No. 1 and the “Scottish Fantasy”), and the complete symphonies, with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
He also gave many world premieres of contemporary music in New York, something for which he is not often credited. Still, Beethoven, Brahms and Mendelssohn were always in his strike zone.
R.I.P. Kurt Masur.
His obituary in the New York Times:
An interview he gave with Bruce Duffie:
http://www.bruceduffie.com/masur.html
Interestingly, he advises audiences to be open to new experiences.
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