# Sad News- German Conductor Gerd Albrecht, 78, Has Died



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Although he was never a glamorous, high profile podium star , Gerd Albrecht , 78 , had a long
and distinguished career and left a legacy of numewrous recordings of obscure but interesting
operas by many different composers .
Curiously, he left relatively few orchestra recordings , despite serving as chief conductor of the
Zurch Tonhalle orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic ,Danish Radio orchestra and one of the leading
Japanese orchestras .
He was the first non-czech conductor to be music director of the Czech Philharmonic, which
caused some controversy in the Czech republic by those who wanted a native Czech maestro .
Unfortunately, Albrecht made only a few appearances in the U.S.which is our loiss ,on tour with the Tonhalle
orchestra , and leading Aribert Reimann's daunting opera "Lear " in San Francisco . He had
conducted the world premiere in Munich with the late ,great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in
the formidable title role , and this was recorded live by DG .
Albrecht was a tireless champion of operas which lay off the beaten track , and recorded many of them.
They include Dvorak's Dimitrij, which is the sequel to Boris Godunov, and his last opera Armida ,
Schrewker's Der Ferne Klang , Der Coregidor by Hugo Wolf , Sancta Susanna and Murder, Hope of Women by Hindemith, 
Busoni's Arelcchino & Turandot (the other one) , the other Wozzeck by Manfred Gurlitt , and so many others .
Opera fans everywhere are in his debt . R.I.P.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

indeed, he was an old school kapellmeister, he will be missed! RIP

/ptr


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I had only recently listened to his recording of Henze's Gogo no Eiko. Sad to hear that someone who championed lesser known works is no more.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

He made good deal of fine recordings of unexplored 19th - 20th century repertoire, such as those on the Orfeo label. He also caused quite a controversy here, introducing a concert with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra by addressing the public and making a short speak against the Danish support for the Iraqi war. He was the main conductor of the orchestra for 5 years. He said that having experienced WW II as a child made him an ardent opponent of the engagement in that war.


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## revdrdave (Jan 8, 2014)

Albrecht, among other things, made a pioneering series of recordings of operas by Franz Schreker. Some perhaps were subsequently surpassed by later recordings, but I've always retained a fondness for Albrecht's. Probably because he was my introduction to Schreker.


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