A German maestro dies, aged 86
RIPThe death has been announced of Georg Alexander Albrecht, former general music director of the Deutschen Nationaltheaters Weimar and the Staatskapelle Weimar.
Aged 29, he became Germany’s youngest GMD with an appointment in Hannover, where he stayed for 28 years. He was a noted interpreter of mid-century German composers, including Pfitzner, Strauss and Furtwänger.
His son Marc Albrecht was until recently chief conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic.
His niece, Ursula von der Leyen, is president of the European Commission.
I vividly remember playing Tchaikovsky’s Second Concerto under his baton. A Gentleman! R.I.P.
The dynasty goes deeper. He was Ursula von der Leyen’s uncle.
And his brother Ernst Albrecht, the father of Ursula von der Leyen, was Prime Minister of the German state Lower Saxony for 15 years. There is also a 19th century industrial tycoon in the family, Baron Ludwig Knoop.
Rest in Peace Maestro