Kurt Masur
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Biography
A maestro of the classic form, Kurt Masur conducted major orchestras around the world although he spent most of his career in East Germany as music director of Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. He became renowned in the West in the 1970s and achieved added fame due to his bravery in the political turmoil that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
He was noted for his classical approach to the central romantic repertoire of Bruckner, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Mahler. Born in a town that was at the time within Germany's Weimar Republic (now Poland), Masur began to play the piano as a child and studied with the Landesmusikschule Breslau until he was obliged to join the military during World War II. After the war, he studied at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig followed by conducting work with the Halle Landestheater, the Erfurt City Theater and the Leipzig Opera Theater.
Masur spent three years with the Dresden Philharmonic in the mid-'50s followed by two as music director of the Mecklenburg State Theater in Schwerin. After a stint with the Dresden Philharmonic, in 1970 he joined Leipzig's Gewandhaus Orchestra where he remained for more than 25 years. He made many recordings in that time but although he led the orchestra on a tour of America in the '70s, the albums were not heard in the West until the fall of communism two decades later.
An outspoken critic of the East German government's policies as communism began to crumble in the East, Masur supported the pro-democracy movement as the city of Leipzig became a centre of resistance. He organised meetings and spoke out in favour of non-violence in speeches on the radio. As a result, Masur's fame grew in the West and in 1991 he was named music director of the New York Philharmonic. Already lifetime honorary conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, he later was principal conductor of the London Philharmonic and music director of the Orchestre National de France. He died in Greenwich, Connecticut from complications with Parkinson's disease in 2015 aged 88.
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Albums
Kurt Masur
"A Midsummer Musical Journey" - From Mozart & Mendelssohn to Ravel & Tchaikovsky
FEATURED
Kurt Masur / New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"; Slavonic Dances
FEATURED
Kurt Masur
Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra
FEATURED
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Schumann: Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra in C Major, Op. 131: Moderato semplice ma espressivo (Transcr. by Fritz Kreisler) featuring New York Philharmonic
- Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"~Adagio un poco mosso (Part 1) featuring Kurt Masur
- Janácek : Sinfonietta : III Moderato
- Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"~Adagio un poco mosso (Part 2) featuring Kurt Masur
- Act IV - "O lass es ruhn, dein Aug', auf mir!" featuring Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
- Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37~Rondo. Allegro featuring Kurt Masur
- Janácek : Sinfonietta : II Andante
- Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37~Largo featuring Kurt Masur
- Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163: II. Adagio
- Act II - "O du, der uber alle wacht" by Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
- "Mild und leise wie er lächelt" featuring Kurt Masur
- VI. Gigue featuring Jürnjakob Timm
- Act I - "Der rauhe Kriegsmann!" featuring Peter Schreier
- Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58~Allegro moderato (Part 3) featuring Kurt Masur
- Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58~Allegro moderato (Part 2) featuring Kurt Masur
- Grieg: Peer Gynt, Op. 23 - Concert version by Kurt Masur & Friedhelm Eberle - Act V: "Peer Gynt, by now a vigorous old man" - Prelu- de: Peer Gynt's Home-coming featuring Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
- Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58~Rondo. Vivace (Part 2) featuring Kurt Masur
- Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"~Allegro (Part 1) featuring Kurt Masur
- Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58~Rondo. Vivace (Part 1) featuring Kurt Masur
- Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"~Allegro (Part 3) featuring Kurt Masur
- Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"~Allegro (Part 4) featuring Kurt Masur
- Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"~Allegro (Part 2) featuring Kurt Masur
- Moderato assai quasi andante featuring Jürnjakob Timm
- Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58~Allegro moderato (Part 1) featuring Kurt Masur
