Just in: Death of a major German composer
RIPThe versatile composer Siegfried Matthus, a rare world-class artist in the former German Democratic Republic, has died at his lifelong home in Stolzenhagen at the age of 87.
Championed by Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin and by Kurt Masur at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Matthus made his name internationally in 1983 with Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (Cornet Christoph Rilke’s song of love and death), which was taken up by Glyndebourne and other western companies.
His style, at once modern and accessible, crossed all borders and betrayed no ideology. The BBC loved him. He was, in the best possible sense of the term, a man for all seasons. But he was also an outstandingly fleunt composer.
Very sad news.
His tireless promotion of young singers at his Rheinsberg Festival (called by some the “Glyndebourne of the East”) will be his lasting legacy, as will his magnificent Cornet opera.
Sincere condolences to Helga and Frank.