# Kurt Masur dies



## Radames

> Kurt Masur, the music director emeritus of the New York Philharmonic, who was credited with transforming the orchestra from a sullen, lackluster ensemble into one of luminous renown, died on Saturday in Greenwich, Conn. He was 88.
> 
> The death was announced by the Philharmonic.


Long article about him in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/arts/music/kurt-masur-new-york-philharmonic-conductor-dies.html


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## jtbell

During my first year of graduate school at the University of Michigan, 1975-76, he conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Ann Arbor as part of a series of visiting orchestras for which I had a season ticket.

The second half of the program was the Brahms First. At that time, as a relatively new classical-music buff, I wasn't too keen on the Brahms symphonies. I had the Szell/Cleveland recordings, and they (or the music) seemed kind of grey and "blah." I considered going home at intermission, but I figured, "hey, I've paid for this, I might as well stick it out."

The performance bowled me over. When it was over, I thought, "Wow, I didn't know Brahms could sound like this. Maybe the problem was Szell..."

Later when I had some time, I dug out the Szell LPs and listened to them again, and they also sounded pretty good, after all. I chalked it up to changing tastes or increased "maturity" or whatever. Since then, whenever a piece or composer doesn't "click" with me, I file it away and give it another chance later. That strategy worked for Bruckner, too.


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## Stirling

*Kurt Masur*

Dead at 88. Lead, among others, NYPO.


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## Biwa

Sad news... http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...of-orchestras-in-new-york-and-beyond-has-died

RIP


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## Pugg

Never cared about him, I have one recording (four last songs)
88 is a wonderful age to go.
That's life /


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## Triplets

jtbell said:


> During my first year of graduate school at the University of Michigan, 1975-76, he conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Ann Arbor as part of a series of visiting orchestras for which I had a season ticket.
> 
> The second half of the program was the Brahms First. At that time, as a relatively new classical-music buff, I wasn't too keen on the Brahms symphonies. I had the Szell/Cleveland recordings, and they (or the music) seemed kind of grey and "blah." I considered going home at intermission, but I figured, "hey, I've paid for this, I might as well stick it out."
> 
> The performance bowled me over. When it was over, I thought, "Wow, I didn't know Brahms could sound like this. Maybe the problem was Szell..."
> 
> Later when I had some time, I dug out the Szell LPs and listened to them again, and they also sounded pretty good, after all. I chalked it up to changing tastes or increased "maturity" or whatever. Since then, whenever a piece or composer doesn't "click" with me, I file it away and give it another chance later. That strategy worked for Bruckner, too.


Hey, I was at that concert as a freshman. I was also relatively new to Classical Music and was bowled over by the Brahms. I already had the Klemperer First, which led me to buy the Szell cycle, which also disappointed me initially. The Szell First has been reissued in 20 bit sound.


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## Triplets

Masur may have been responsible for the DDR peacefully going into the night. If so that will have been his most worthwhile feat.
He was embraced by New York Critics at first because the standard of playing had supposedly slipped and were restored by him. Later there was grumbling that he was to conservative . The one time I saw them on tour in Chicago with the 5th Symphonies of Beethoven and Shostakovich was memorable.


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## geoffrey terry

*My dedication, to one of the greatest conductors of our time - two historic recordings.*
My acquaintance with maestro Masur was of a much more humble nature than that of the author of Slipped Disc, nevertheless, permit me:
In November of 1967 I had the great pleasure of accompanying the Berliner Staatskapelle, (the East Berlin Philharmonic), during their tour of the UK, Maestro Masur was the tour conductor on that occasion.
My duty, amongst others, was to act as chauffeur for the great man, taking him where ever his heart desired. I remember in particular that he became almost obsessed with a folding clothes brush I used and we spent some considerable time visiting the tailors of Hastings in an endeavor to locate one for him - without success, naturally I gave him mine.
My birthday of 1967 is the one that I have remembered more than any other, because during the rehearsal for the Bruckner 7th I entered the hall, with Adolf Borsdorf, the impresario who arranged the tour, and apparently the maestro was aware of our arrival. He stopped the rehearsal for a moment, then directed the orchestra to play a series of G major and minor chords, in what might be described as Mahler orchestration, following which, and much to my great amazement, Kurt turned in our direction and together with the orchestra applauded ME. Kurt knew of my love of Mahler and gave me the greatest present of my life.
There are two performances from the tour which I am able to relive in grand style, the Royal Festival Hall, from the 17th November and the White Rock Pavilion, Hastings from the 18th November 1967.
I was granted permission to record both concerts, which was an extraordinary joy for me since I am a recording engineer by profession and a devoted music lover by nature.
I still remember visiting Kurt in the Green Room before the RFH concert; he was still studying the score of the Bruckner and was visibly very tense. That performance, for me, is the greatest that has ever occurred, certainly in my lifetime, and it inspired me to publish the recording.
I decided not to add any of the other works from the concert because the Bruckner is so moving and so intense that I felt it needs to be heard as an individual experience. A decision which left some wonderful music still hidden. The Paul Dessau 'In Memorium Bertold Brecht' and the Mahler Eines Fahrenden Gesellen, (also from the RFH concert) have been added to the Hastings recording, along with Beethoven's Leonora no 3 overture and Haydn's Symphony no 88.
The Hastings concert seems to me like a major historical event, tucked in amongst the regular seaside town entertainments, as it was. Today it is almost unimaginable that such an event could take place in such a venue. However, it did and it is a miracle that both were recorded. That said, of the seven billion, plus inhabitants of this sad planet, less than two hundred have acquired copies rather than await the day, which will never come, when they can 'download' them free from a low quality source.
The reason for my intransigence is that my objective in recording the concerts was to create a mirror image as close to the original sound as was humanly possible, something that is not possible in download format.
Jeffrey Lipscom wrote in the American magazine Fanfare: "This 1967 Seventh differs from Masur's other accounts in its greater spontaneity and the exceptionally vivid quality of its recorded sound … if you are seeking to have a memento of Masur's Bruckner at its most appealing, this CD is the way to go."

Jonathan Woolfe wrote in MusicWeb International
"[…] a sinewy and powerful Leonore no 3, Masur extracting every ounce of tone from his band's 'bass up' German sonority. But smaller details are also well attended to … It's followed by Haydn's Symphony no88 in a robustly rewarding reading."

"[The Dessau is] an intense distillation of Brecht's art and achievement, rather than a simple memorial piece as such. [In the Mahler, Annelies Burmeister's] contralto is finely controlled and richly burnished. She's in good voice and proves a laudable exponent."

"The recording quality captures both venues with real fidelity, offering a natural audience perspective shorn of spotlighting. It's a well balanced disc into the bargain."
-Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, May2012
Geoffrey Terry,
www.occds.org


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## Radames

The best live Tchaikovsky 5th I ever heard was when he conducted the Orchestre National de France in Boston.


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## Triplets

geoffrey terry said:


> *My dedication, to one of the greatest conductors of our time - two historic recordings.*
> My acquaintance with maestro Masur was of a much more humble nature than that of the author of Slipped Disc, nevertheless, permit me:
> In November of 1967 I had the great pleasure of accompanying the Berliner Staatskapelle, (the East Berlin Philharmonic), during their tour of the UK, Maestro Masur was the tour conductor on that occasion.
> My duty, amongst others, was to act as chauffeur for the great man, taking him where ever his heart desired. I remember in particular that he became almost obsessed with a folding clothes brush I used and we spent some considerable time visiting the tailors of Hastings in an endeavor to locate one for him - without success, naturally I gave him mine.
> My birthday of 1967 is the one that I have remembered more than any other, because during the rehearsal for the Bruckner 7th I entered the hall, with Adolf Borsdorf, the impresario who arranged the tour, and apparently the maestro was aware of our arrival. He stopped the rehearsal for a moment, then directed the orchestra to play a series of G major and minor chords, in what might be described as Mahler orchestration, following which, and much to my great amazement, Kurt turned in our direction and together with the orchestra applauded ME. Kurt knew of my love of Mahler and gave me the greatest present of my life.
> There are two performances from the tour which I am able to relive in grand style, the Royal Festival Hall, from the 17th November and the White Rock Pavilion, Hastings from the 18th November 1967.
> I was granted permission to record both concerts, which was an extraordinary joy for me since I am a recording engineer by profession and a devoted music lover by nature.
> I still remember visiting Kurt in the Green Room before the RFH concert; he was still studying the score of the Bruckner and was visibly very tense. That performance, for me, is the greatest that has ever occurred, certainly in my lifetime, and it inspired me to publish the recording.
> I decided not to add any of the other works from the concert because the Bruckner is so moving and so intense that I felt it needs to be heard as an individual experience. A decision which left some wonderful music still hidden. The Paul Dessau 'In Memorium Bertold Brecht' and the Mahler Eines Fahrenden Gesellen, (also from the RFH concert) have been added to the Hastings recording, along with Beethoven's Leonora no 3 overture and Haydn's Symphony no 88.
> The Hastings concert seems to me like a major historical event, tucked in amongst the regular seaside town entertainments, as it was. Today it is almost unimaginable that such an event could take place in such a venue. However, it did and it is a miracle that both were recorded. That said, of the seven billion, plus inhabitants of this sad planet, less than two hundred have acquired copies rather than await the day, which will never come, when they can 'download' them free from a low quality source.
> The reason for my intransigence is that my objective in recording the concerts was to create a mirror image as close to the original sound as was humanly possible, something that is not possible in download format.
> Jeffrey Lipscom wrote in the American magazine Fanfare: "This 1967 Seventh differs from Masur's other accounts in its greater spontaneity and the exceptionally vivid quality of its recorded sound … if you are seeking to have a memento of Masur's Bruckner at its most appealing, this CD is the way to go."
> 
> Jonathan Woolfe wrote in MusicWeb International
> "[…] a sinewy and powerful Leonore no 3, Masur extracting every ounce of tone from his band's 'bass up' German sonority. But smaller details are also well attended to … It's followed by Haydn's Symphony no88 in a robustly rewarding reading."
> 
> "[The Dessau is] an intense distillation of Brecht's art and achievement, rather than a simple memorial piece as such. [In the Mahler, Annelies Burmeister's] contralto is finely controlled and richly burnished. She's in good voice and proves a laudable exponent."
> 
> "The recording quality captures both venues with real fidelity, offering a natural audience perspective shorn of spotlighting. It's a well balanced disc into the bargain."
> -Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, May2012
> Geoffrey Terry,
> www.occds.org


Interesting. I have read reviews of the posters CDs in Fanfare, but never acquired one. I will check out his website.


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## Vaneyes

Kurt Masur R.I.P. :angel:

Saw him many times on TV. Only once in person, a 2002 NYPO rehearsal at Avery Fisher. IIRC I have only one of his recs., Dvorak "New World" w. NYPO (rec.1991). An exciting reading, scintillating percussion.

By two accounts, from a hunter and gatherer in a record store and a friend's face-to-face meeting, a nice man. :tiphat:


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## Steatopygous

He seems to have been a very decent man.
An impression enhanced by Geoffrey Terry's lovely anecdotes.


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## GraemeG

I remember hearing him conduct the Gewandhaus, at home base, some time in 1990, I believe.
Forget the program, but remember it was a very fine concert.
And the revolutions were fresh in everyone's mind at the time.
GG


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## Fabulin

What do people mean when they refer to Masur as an "old-style maestro"?


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## Rogerx

For one minute I thought he was resurrected and died again.


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## Itullian

i saw him do the Shostakovich 5 when he was on tour with the NYP
in LA. i thought it was very good.
RIP


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## D Smith

Rogerx said:


> For one minute I thought he was resurrected and died again.


lol I thought the same.


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## Merl

Rogerx said:


> For one minute I thought he was resurrected and died again.


Wouldn't be the first time that's happened, according to some people.


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## Simplicissimus

Kurt Masur’s son, Ken-David Masur, is the current music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (the CSO’s development organization). I think he’s an excellent conductor and arts administrator. His dad would be proud.


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## Rogerx

Merl said:


> Wouldn't be the first time that's happened, according to some people.


Very thin ice Merl ....


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## Merl

Rogerx said:


> Very thin ice Merl ....


Eh, I was thinking of Bobby Ewing in Dallas or Dirty Den in Eastenders, Roger.


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## Rogerx

:lol::lol::lol:


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## Merl

Perhaps Mr. Masur's 2nd Beethoven cycle pre-empted this discussion. Ludwig looks like a character from the Walking Dead









He doesn't look so hot on the first Masur cycle either.









There's a theme developing here.


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## JAS

This just in, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo_Francisco_Franco_is_still_dead


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