July 2002 - Nr. 7
Masur Honoured as New York Philharmonic Music Director Emeritus
TWIG - Of all the legendary maestros who have stood on the podium of the New York Philharmonic over its 160-year history, only one had been distinguished as Music Director Emeritus: Leonard Bernstein, American composer of such New York-steeped works as "West Side Story" and "On the Town" and conductor of the Philharmonic from 1958 until his death 1990. On Saturday (June 1), a German conductor joined this elite company. At the conclusion of Kurt Masur’s final subscription performance, an all-Beethoven program featuring renowned German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, the Philharmonic’s executive director, Zarin Mehta, took the stage to announce that Masur had been chosen for the honorary title. Mehta said that in Masur’s 11-year tenure as principal conductor and music director, he had contributed immeasurably to the development of the orchestra and was "one of the outstanding leaders" in its history. The audience in Avery Fischer Hall greeted the announcement with roaring applause, and Masur, looking overwhelmed, was speechless.
Kurt Masur was born in Brieg (Saxony) on July 18, 1927. After apprenticing to be an electrician, at age 15 he switched to music school in Breslau and there studied piano, composition and conducting. He took up the baton at the Dresden Philharmonic in the late 1950s. In 1960, he was named principal conductor of the Komische Oper in Berlin. After a decade of work with both orchestras, Masur was named Kappellmeister of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, a 250-year-old institution conducted in the past by maestros from Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to Wilhelm Furtwaengler. Masur went on to lead and shape the orchestra for 26 years and the "Gewandhaus sound" he created became known to and imitated by musicians and orchestras around the world. In autumn 1989, a period of uncertainty and tumult in Germany that culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall, Masur took the bold risk of signing his name to a petition to the East German government calling for east and west to refrain from violence and to favor constructive dialogue. Masur used the power of his podium and prominence to stand on the people’s side. Soon heralded as the "Savoir from Leipzig," Masur was even under discussion as a possible head of state for the "new" GDR. Although he demurred, his work in the name of peaceful reunification and cultural excellence throughout Germany has earned Masur countless honours, among them the Federal Cross of Merit and first Honorary Music Director in the history of the Gewandhaus Orchestra.
While still with the Gewandhaus in 1981, Masur made his New York Philharmonic debut. In 1991, he was named Music Director of the orchestra. New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini has written, "Kurt Masur arrived at the New York Philharmonic as an unapologetic conductor of the old school: authoritarian, exacting, caustic when dissatisfied and stinting with praise. The musicians were shaken by the German maestro’s demanding ways. But before long they accepted Mr. Masur’s tough love. They knew they needed him." Now, 11 years later, he is widely credited with having restored excellence to the Philharmonic. Though critics lament his resistance to adding more modern works to his programs, under his guidance, the Philharmonic launched a number of successful initiatives, including a return to live, national radio broadcasts and the creation of the orchestra’s own recording label.
On Monday, the orchestra left for its last international tour under Masur’s direction, a tour that will take the musicians to Cologne and Baden-Baden early this summer. On July 18, the director’s 75th birthday, Masur will return to New York and Massachusetts for valedictory performances, before taking up his new post as principal conductor the Orchestre National de France in Paris and continuing his work with the London Philharmonic.
