5 - E' morto Kurt Masur.

addio a Kurt Masur

fece della musica uno strumento di pace

Angelo Foletto, LaRepubblica, 20 dicembre 2015

DISCOGRAFIA: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kurt-masur-mn0000046842/discography

UN VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChcrZX2rZ1M

E’ morto all'eta di 88 anni a Greenwich nel Connecticut – ma dal 2012 aveva smesso di esibirsi in pubblico a seguito dell’ aggravarsi del Parkinson - Kurt Masur era uno degli ultimi musicisti tedeschi orgogliosi di appartenere alla generazione degli interpreti ”storici'-', epigoni della somma tradizione ottocentesca. Direttore musicale delle piu famose orchestre della DDR nel Dopoguerra, poi “restauratore" del profilo sinfonico della Filarmonica di New York dal 1 99 1 al 2002, Masur fu stimato rappresentante della nobile casata dei maestri e "guardiani della musica", in particolare nel grande repertorio austro-tedesco.

Cresciuto nella pratica dei piccoli teatri, delle orchestre di provincia, del repertorio ampio che andava da Bach alle operette Viennesi e boeme, Masur era nato -il 18 luglio 1927 a Brieg (ora Brzeg in Polonia ) , dove inizio gli studi poi completati a Lipsia col diploma in pianoforte, composizione e direzione d'orchestra. Fisicamente imponente, dirigeva senza bacchetta, con gesti bruschi ma ammorbiditi da braccia Iunghissime e movenze danzanti. Non era sempre bello da vedere ma al “peso” degli affondi con le mani corrispondeva un suono netto e profondo – indimenticabile l'attacco con gli accordi tragici dell’ Ouverture da Egmont con

la Filarmonica di Dresda – che ha segnato la fisionomia sonora delle orchestre di cui e stato a capo. Quasi dieci anni, seppure non continuativamente negli  Sessanta a Dresda, e dal '70 al "96 al Gewandhaus orchester di Lipsia, predecessore di Herbert Blomstedt. Con lui l’orchestra torno nei circuiti internazionali e a quelli discografici di primo piano lasciando testimonianze importanti soprattutto in Beethoven, Brahms,

Mendelssohn, Schumann.

Il Gewandhaus divenne il complesso che per primo seppe interpretare il nuovo corso della Germania. Dopo aver svolto il ruolo di portabandiera della DDR (nell'82 il Premio nazionale come artista emerito ) , Masur usò il carisma politico per frenare manifestazioni di piazza, per opporsi fermamente al regime e quindi per associare la storica orchestra alle prime manifestazioni d'arte a favore della riunificazione. Dimostrando ancora una Volta fiducia incrollabile nella forza morale e civile, alta e intangibile della grande musica europea.

Fu accolta con scetticismo la nomina a New York: il suo iter professionale, quasi esclusivamente al di la della Cortina di Ferro, non aveva lo smalto mediatico preteso dagli abbonati newyorkesi. Ma nel giro di pochi mesi conquisto orchestra e città. Oggi non suona strano leggere che la notizia della morte sia stata data “con estrema tristezza" da Matthew Van Besien, presidente della Filarmonica. Forse perché molti americani hanno ancora gli occhi lucidi ricordando la toccante e austera esecuzione del Deutsches'Requiem

di Brahms che Masur voile dirigere e dedicare a New York e alle sue vittime, il 20 settembre 2001 .

Biography by Joseph Stevenson

Kurt Masur's tenure with the New York Philharmonic in the 1990s superficially seemed a throwback to the days when American orchestras always looked to the European continent when naming their conductors. In fact, the appointment was both unusual and forward-thinking. Born in Brieg, Silesia (in modern-day Poland) in 1927, Masur is one of the most respected conductors of his generation and is well known for his human rights activities.

Masur studied cello and piano while at the Breslau Music School from 1942 to 1944. After the war he found himself in the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany, which became the German Democratic Republic (DDR) or East Germany. His education then continued at the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik, where he studied piano, composition, and conducting (1946-1948). His professional career began as a coach and assistant conductor in the Halle Landestheater. He then became Kapellmeister of the Erfurt City Theater (1951-1953). Next, he was his appointed as Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Opera Theater. (1953-1955).

His first orchestral position came with the Dresden Philharmonic (1955-1958). He then returned to opera, becoming Generalmusikdirektor of the Mecklenburg State Theater in Schwerin (1958-1960). One of his most important appointments came in 1960, when he took the post as Senior Director of Music at the Berlin Komische Oper, where he worked with the famous director and producer Walter Felsenstein. He returned to the Dresden Philharmonic as its music director (1967-1972). In 1970 he became Gewandhauskapellmeister of Leipzig, a position of high prestige ever since the Gewandhaus Orchestra had been led by Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, and indeed Felix Mendelssohn. He remained at the Gewandhaus through 1996, during one of the most important stretches in the orchestra's history. Together they made numerous recordings for the East German state recording company, many of which became generally available in the West only during the 1990s. He also took the orchestra on significant foreign tours, and in 1975 he became a professor at the Leipzig Academy.

Masur was and remains a frequent guest conductor with the world's leading orchestras. His U.S. debut came in 1974, when he led the Cleveland Orchestra and also took the Gewandhaus Orchestra on its first American tour. His New York Philharmonic debut took place in 1981.

Masur became outspoken in his opposition to DDR policies, and in 1989 he played a central role in the growing demonstrations against Communist rule. As a result he was awarded several of Germany's highest civilian honors, and his profile in the West was raised still further.

In 1991 Masur was appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic. Although the orchestra was in fine form when he took it, he was been credited with sharpening its precision, creating a more incisive sound. Masur and the Philharmonic recorded extensively on the Teldec label. Under his tenure, the orchestra resumed its historic series of live national radio broadcasts, becoming the only orchestra in the United States with such a program in place. In 1999, the orchestra's "Messages for the Millennium" project commissioned works by Thomas Ades, John Corigliano, Hans Werner Henze, Giya Kancheli, and Kaija Saariaho, and in June of the following year, Masur and the Philharmoniccompleted their fifth European tour.

In 1996 he stepped down from his position with the Gewandhaus, which elected to give him the title of Conductor Laureate -- the first time it had bestowed that honor. Since 1992, he has held the lifetime title of Honorary Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In September 2000, Masur assumed the position of Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which he held until 2007. At the end of his contract with the New York Philharmonic in 2002, Masur became music director of the Orchestre National de France, a position he held until 2008. He remains active as a guest conductor, although his age has placed some limitations on his engagements.