Kurt Masur monument is unveiled
mainThe tombstone of the late conductor was consecrated yesterday in Leipzig.
The former Gewandhaus Kapellmeister died on December 15, 2015.
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A bit much.
One shouldn’t speak ill of the dead I suppose. He was a great conductor- courageous man in many ways & charming off the podium. But I will never forget how he bullied the young players of The Indiana University Orchestra- & probably destroyed their confidence for life. Also speaking to members of The London Philharmonic who played under him- don’t think many of them will be in a rush to visit his memorial.
People might want to look up the reasons why Masur is revered in Leipzig for reasons beyond his conducting work. It’s an inspiring story and, if anything could even temporarily disrupt the dreary cynicism of this place, a reminder of Masur’s role during the fall of Communism might do it.
Excellent point. Wasn’t he the same man who helped Klaus Tennstedt escape from East Germany?
Agreed. He may have been short-tempered with players and authoritarian, but all of that shrinks into utter insignificance if you try to imagine how it must have felt in 1989 to be in the DDR with all the threats hanging in the air and the insecurity. If you know the history of postwar Germany and the Cold War, and the role played by art and artists in the eastern zone, and the pressures they were under, one could only admire and honor a man like Masur who represented the best of Germany in an hour of extreme stress.
Was he really a great conductor?
Oh yes. Recordings don’t show it as much, because things were always careful in the studio. But he’d let himself go in concert. I particularly remember a superb, untethered yet disciplined (a hard combination!) Beethoven 5 in Hong Kong with NYPO in the mid-’90s. Unforgettable!