Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and also served as music director of the New York Philharmonic. He left many recordings of classical music played by major orchestras. Masur is also remembered for his actions to support peaceful demonstrations in the 1989 anti-government demonstrations in Leipzig; the protests were part of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin wall.

Biography

Masur was born in Brieg, Lower Silesia, Germany (now Brzeg, Poland), and studied piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig, Saxony.
His father was an electrical engineer, and as a young boy he completed an electrician's apprenticeship; he occasionally worked in his father's shop. From ages 10 to 16, he took piano lessons with Katharina Hartmann.

In October 1944 the Nazis announced that all men between the ages of 16 and 60 could be conscripted, which included the young conductor. Masur was drafted into the paratroopers late in 1944. He was sent to fight; "[o]ut of the 150 people of his unit, only 27 [including Masur] survived", before being captured by American and British forces on 1 May 1945. Masur and his family were lucky: not a single family member died in the war.

From 1946 until 1948, he studied conducting, composition and piano at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. He left at 21, never finishing his studies, when offered a job as répétiteur at the Landestheater Halle an der Saale (since renamed as the Halle Opera House, or Opernhaus Halle in German).

Masur was married three times, and had a total of five children. His first marriage to Brigitte Stütze produced three children, and it ended in divorce in 1966. He and his second wife, Irmgard Elsa Kaul, had a daughter, Carolin Masur, who became an opera singer. Irmgard died in 1972 in a car accident in which Masur was severely injured. In 1975, he married his third wife, soprano and violist, Tomoko Sakurai: they had one son, Ken-David, a classical singer and conductor.

Conducting career
Masur conducted the Dresden Philharmonic for three years ending in 1958 and again from 1967 to 1972. He also worked with the Komische Oper of East Berlin. In 1970, he became Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, serving in that post until 1996.  With that orchestra, he performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the celebration of German reunification in 1990.

In 1991, Masur became music director of the New York Philharmonic (NYP). He was an unexpected choice who brought needed change to that orchestra. "Masur's appointment was a clear signal that it was time for the orchestra to begin anew." Former concertmaster Glenn Dicterow said in 2012 "It takes a big personality to unite 105 players onstage — to get everybody to be as inspired as he is — and, uh, it's hard work, . . And he's just so demanding and intense that I think that he got, just by his sheer intensity of his personality, I think it sort of transformed most of us." Masur directed the Philharmonic in a performance of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. During his tenure, there were reports of tension between Masur and the NYP's Executive Director at the time, Deborah Borda, which eventually contributed to his contract not being renewed beyond 2002. In a television interview with Charlie Rose, Masur stated that regarding his leaving the NYP, "it was not my wish".  Masur stood down as the NYP's music director in 2002 and was named its Music Director Emeritus, a new title created for him. The critical consensus was that Masur improved the playing of the orchestra over his tenure.

In 2000, Masur became principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) and held this position until 2007. In April 2002, Masur became music director of the Orchestre National de France (ONF) and served in this post until 2008, when he took the title of honorary music director of the ONF. On his 80th birthday, 18 July 2007, Masur conducted musicians from both orchestras at a Proms concert in London. Masur held the lifetime title of Honorary Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, following a series of cancellations of concert engagements, Masur disclosed on his website that he had Parkinson's disease.

Political views
Although Masur spent most of his professional career in East Germany, he never joined the SED. In 1982, he received the National Prize of East Germany. His attitude to the regime began to change in 1989, after the arrest of a street musician in Leipzig. On 9 October 1989, he intervened in anti-government demonstrations in Leipzig in communist East Germany, negotiating an end to a confrontation that could have resulted in security forces attacking the protesters, one month before the fall of the Berlin wall.

Death
In 2015, Masur died at the age of 88 in Greenwich, Connecticut, from complications of Parkinson's disease. His funeral was held in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, with music played by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Thomanerchor. Burial took place in the South Leipzig Cemetery, called Südfriedhof. He was survived by his third wife, as well as his daughters Angelika and Carolin, his sons, Ken-David, Michael and Matthias, and nine grandchildren.

Awards

A professor at the Leipzig Academy of Music since 1975, Masur received numerous honors. In 1995, he received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He received the Gold Medal of Honor for Music from the National Arts Club in 1996. in 1997 he received the titles of Commander of the Legion of Honor from the French government (Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur), and New York City Cultural Ambassador from the City of New York. In 1999 he received the Commander Cross of Merit of the Polish Republic.

In 2002, President of Germany Johannes Rau awarded him the Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; in 2007, President of Germany Horst Köhler bestowed upon him the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit with Star and Ribbon; in 2008, he received the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize in Bonn, Germany. Masur was also an Honorary Citizen of his hometown Brieg. In 2001, Masur became an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music.

In 2010, he received the Leo Baeck Medal (Leo Baeck Institute) for his humanitarian work promoting tolerance and social justice. He received a  Award in 2014 for his work in public policy.

On 18 July 2018, which would have been Masur's 91st birthday, Google featured him in a Google Doodle in the United States, Germany, Belarus, Iceland, and Japan.

References

External links

 
 Discography of Kurt Masur
 
 
 
 Interview with Kurt Masur, 8 June 1988
 Leo Baeck Institute, "Leo Baeck Medal for Kurt Masur", 10 November 2010

1927 births
2015 deaths
People from Brzeg
People from the Province of Lower Silesia
German male conductors (music)
Music directors of the New York Philharmonic
20th-century German conductors (music)
20th-century German male musicians
21st-century German conductors (music)
21st-century German male musicians
20th-century male musicians
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni
Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music
Fallschirmjäger of World War II
German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States
German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom
Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony
Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour
쿠르트 마주어(Kurt Masur, 1927년 7월 18일 ~ 2015년 12월 19일)는 독일의 지휘자이다. 그는 특히 독일 낭만주의 음악에 대한 탁월한 해석으로 정평이 나있다.

삶 
마주어는 독일 북슐레지엔(Niederschlesien)의 브제크(Brzeg, 독일어로는 브리크(Brieg))에서 태어났고 이후 작센 주 라이프치히에서 피아노와 작곡, 지휘를 공부했다. 마주어는 도합 세 번 결혼했다. 1972년에 마주어는 자동차 사고를 겪었는데 그 때 그는 심각하게 다쳤고 결혼 생활에서 한 명의 딸을 뒀던 두 번째 아내를 잃었다. 그와 세 번째 부인인 일본인 소프라노 사쿠라이 토모코(桜井偕子)와의 사이에는 한 명의 아들 Ken-David을 두고 있는데 현재 이 아들은 산 안토니오에서 성악가이자 성공적인 지휘자로 활동하고 있다. 마주어는 2012년 4월 26일 저녁 파리의 Théâtre des Champs-Élysées에서 열린 한 연주회에서 졸도하여 응급 이송됐으나 바로 다음날부터 회복된 적이 있다. 마주어는 파킨슨병을 이미 2008년 무렵 이래로 앓고 있음이 2012년 10월 10일에 공개됐다. 2015년 12월 19일에 미국 코네티컷 주의 그리니치에 있는 한 병원에서 향년 88세의 일기로 별세하였다.

지휘 경력 
마주어는 1956년부터 1958년까지, 그리고 다시 1967년부터 1972년까지 두 차례에 걸쳐 드레스덴 필하모닉 오케스트라를 지휘했다. 이때 동독의 베를린 코믹 오페라단과 함께 일하기도 했다. 1970년, 그는 라이프치히 게반트하우스 관현악단의 카펠마이스터에 취임, 1996년까지 장기간 일했다.

1991년, 마주어는 주빈 메타의 후임으로 뉴욕 필하모닉(NYP)의 상임 지휘자 겸 음악 감독으로 취임했다. 그의 계약기간 동안, 당시 NYP의 상임 이사였던 데보라 보르다(Deborah Borda)와의 마찰이 있었다는 이야기가 나돌았는데 이 때문에 결국 그는 2002년 이후로 계약을 갱신하는데 실패했다. 찰리 로즈와의 텔레비전 인터뷰에서, 마주어는 그의 '자신의 의지'로 뉴욕필을 떠난 것은 아니라고 했다. 문제의 원인은 근본적으로는 미국과 독일에서의 지휘자의 역할에 대한 인식의 차이 때문이었다. 미국에서는 피고용인(지휘자)가 고용자에게 하나하나 충실히 "보고"하는 관계라면, 독일의 경우는 경험적으로 최선의 방법을 자유롭게 실행할 수 있는 문화가 조성되어 있기 때문이다. 마주어는 2002년 을 사임할 수 밖에 없었고, 이후 그를 위해 새롭게 만들어진 직함인 종신 음악 감독(Music Director Emeritus)에 임명되었다. 비록 그의 사임은 다소 정치색으로 얼룩져 있었지만, 마주어가 뉴욕필을 이끌면서 그의 나긋나긋한 선임자들과는 다르게 오케스트라의 연주 수준을 확연하게 상승시켰다는 것은 누구도 부인할 수 없는 사실이다.

2000년, 마주어는 런던 필하모닉 오케스트라(LPO)의 수석 지휘자에 취임하여 2007년까지 활동했다. 2002년 봄, 마주어는 프랑스 국립 관현악단의 음악 감독으로 취임해서 ONF의 명예 음악 감독의 지휘를 얻은 2008년까지 오케스트라를 지휘했다. 그의 80번째 생일이었던 2007년 7월 18일에, 마주어는 LPO와 ONF의 연주자들과 함께 런던에서 열린 프롬에서 연주했다. 그의 연주는 늘 다양한 평론가들의 반응을 이끌어냈다.
마주어는 세계 유수의 오케스트라에서 다수의 객원 지휘를 했고, 이스라엘 필하모닉 오케스트라의 종신 명예 객원 지휘자이다.

정치적 견해 
오랜 세월 동안, 마주어는 동독(Deutsche Demokratische Republik)의 지도자 중 한명이었다. 1982년, 그는 동독으로부터 국가 훈장을 받기까지 했다. 하지만 1989년, 라이프치히에서 거리의 음악가 한 명이 체포되면서 체제에 대한 그의 신뢰심이 사라지게 됐다. 1989년 10월 9일, 그는 공산주의 동독 치하의 라이프치히에서 반정부 시위에 가담했다. 그는 천안문 사태에서 발생했던 불행한 상황이 재현되지 않기를 바라며 시위자들의 안전을 위해 대결 국면에 종지부를 찍을 것을 주장했다.

수상 경력 
1975년부터 라이프치히 음악원의 교수로 활동중인 마주어는 여러 차례 영예를 얻었다:
1995년 - the Cross of the Order of Merits of the Federal Republic of Germany 1996년 - the Gold Medal of Honor for Music from the National Arts Club 1997년 - the titles of Commander of the Legion of Honor from the French government, New York City Cultural Ambassador from the City of New York 1999년 4월 - the Commander Cross of Merit of the Polish Republic 2002년 3월 - the Cross with Star of the Order of Merits of the Federal Republic of Germany 2007년 9월 - the President of Germany, Horst Köhler, bestowed upon him the Great Cross of the Legion of Honor with Star and Ribbon 2008년 9월 - the Furtwängler Prize(본, 독일)
마주어는 또한 그의 고향인 브리그의 명예 시민이기도 하다. 2001년, 쿠르트 마주어는 왕립 음악 아카데미의 명예 단원이 되었다.

참조

외부 링크 

 쿠르트 마주어 공식 홈페이지(영어)
 쿠르트 마주어 인터뷰 브루스 더피, 1988년 6월

1927년 출생
2015년 사망
독일의 지휘자
대연방공로십자성현장 수훈자
라이프치히 콘서바토리 동문