View source for Kurt Masur

{{short description|German conductor (1927–2015)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Kurt Masur
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1927|7|18|df=y}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2015|12|19|1927|7|18|df=y}}
| burial_place       =  [[Südfriedhof (Leipzig)]], Germany<!-- may be used instead of resting_place and resting_place_coordinates (displays "Burial place" as label) -->
| burial_coordinates =  <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| birth_place        = [[Brzeg|Brieg]], [[Province of Lower Silesia|Lower Silesia]], Germany
| death_place        = [[Greenwich, Connecticut]], U.S.
| image              = Masur-Dresdner-Philharmonie-Albertinum-2012 (cropped).jpg
| alt                = White haired man in black at conductor's position
| caption            = Masur conducting the Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden) in 2012
| occupation         = Conductor
| years_active       = 1955–2014
| organization       = {{plainlist| 
*[[Dresden Philharmonic]] 
*[[Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra]] 
*[[New York Philharmonic]] 
*[[London Philharmonic Orchestra]]
*[[Orchestre National de France]]}}
| style              = [[Western classical music]] 
| alma_mater         = [[University of Music and Theatre Leipzig]] 
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Brigitte Stütze||1966|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Irmgard Elsa Kaul||1972|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Tomoko Sakurai|1975}}
}}
| partner            =  <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) -->
| children           = 5

}}
'''Kurt Masur''' ({{IPA|de|ˈkʊʁt maˈzuːɐ̯}}; 18 July 1927{{snd}}19 December 2015) was a German [[Conducting|conductor]]. Called "one of the last old-style maestros",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jul/18/classicalmusic.comment |title=In praise of... Kurt Masur |newspaper=The Guardian |department=Opinion: classical music |date=18 July 2007 |access-date=19 December 2015}}</ref> 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]] for about ten years. He made many recordings of classical music with major orchestras. Masur is also remembered for his actions to support peaceful demonstrations against the East German government in the [[Monday demonstrations in East Germany|1989 demonstrations in Leipzig]]; those protests were part of the events leading up to the [[Berlin Wall#Fall of the Berlin Wall|fall of the Berlin wall]].

==Biography==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-Z0209-023, Kurt Masur mit Familie.jpg|thumb|left|Masur, wife Tomoko, daughter Carolin, and son Ken David in 1981]]
Masur was born in [[Brzeg|Brieg]], [[Province of Lower Silesia|Lower Silesia]], [[Weimar Republic|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.<ref name="Cosmopolis2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/music/e0018600/kurt_masur_biography_e01860000.htm |title=Kurt Masur biography: The early years of the conductor |access-date=17 July 2018 |date=1 January 2016 |publisher=Cosmopolis }}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was sent to fight; "out of the 150 people of his unit, only 27 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.<ref name="Cosmopolis2016" />

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 [[Halle Opera House|Landestheater Halle an der Saale]] (since renamed the Halle Opera House, or Opernhaus Halle in German).<ref name=Cosmopolis2016 />

Masur was married three times, and had a total of five children. His first marriage to Brigitte Stütze produced three children, and ended in divorce in 1966. He and his second wife, Irmgard Elsa Kaul, had a daughter, Carolin Masur, who became an opera singer.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/02/arts/kurt-masur-in-leipzig-a-favorite-son-at-home.html |newspaper=New York Times |first=John |last=Tagliabue |title=Kurt Masur in Leipzig: A Favorite Son at Home |date=2 January 1992 |access-date=25 November 2014}}</ref> Irmgard died in 1972 in a car accident in which Masur was severely injured.<ref name="Fox">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/arts/music/kurt-masur-new-york-philharmonic-conductor-dies.html |title=Kurt Masur Dies at 88; Conductor Transformed New York Philharmonic |first=Margalit |last=Fox |author-link=Margalit Fox |first2=James R. |last2=Oestreich |author2-link=James R. Oestreich |newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 December 2015 |access-date=19 December 2015}}</ref> In 1975, he married his third wife, soprano and violist, Tomoko Sakurai: they had one son, [[Ken-David Masur|Ken-David]], a classical singer and conductor.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/6660.html|work=Playbill Arts |first=Kevin |last=Shihoten |title=Ken Masur Named Resident Conductor of San Antonio Symphony|date=18 July 2007|access-date=24 July 2007}}</ref>

==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.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/19/kurt-masur-conductor-new-york-philharmonic-dies-88 |title=Kurt Masur, great conductor who led New York Philharmonic, dies at 88 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 December 2015 |access-date=19 December 2015 |last=Pengelly |first=Martin}}</ref>

In 1991, Masur became music director of the [[New York Philharmonic]] (NYP). He was an unexpected choice who brought change to that orchestra at a time when its reputation had declined.<ref name=Tsioulcas2015 /> "Masur's appointment was a clear signal that it was time for the orchestra to begin anew."<ref name=Tsioulcas2015 /> 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."<ref name=Tsioulcas2015 /> Masur directed the Philharmonic in a performance of Brahms's ''[[A German Requiem (Brahms)|Ein deutsches Requiem]]'' in the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001]].<ref name="Guardian" /> 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.<ref>{{cite news |first=Greg |last=Sandow |title=Kurt, We Hardly Knew Ye |url=http://gregsandow.com/masur.htm |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=5 June 2002 |access-date=12 August 2007 | url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007010628/http://gregsandow.com/masur.htm | archive-date=7 October 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In a television interview with [[Charlie Rose]], Masur stated that regarding his leaving the NYP, "it was not my wish".<ref>{{cite interview |url=http://www.charlierose.com/keywords/Kurt-Masur |interviewer=Charlie Rose |work=The Charlie Rose Show |publisher=PBS |title=Interview with Kurt Masur |date=21 May 2002 |access-date=13 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307033705/http://www.charlierose.com/keywords/Kurt-Masur |archive-date=7 March 2008 }}</ref>  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.<ref>{{cite news |first=Peter G. |last=Davis |title=Soul Man |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/classical/reviews/6115/index.html |magazine=New York |date=17 June 2002 |access-date=13 August 2007}}</ref>

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,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/6825.html |work=Playbill Arts |first=Matthew |last=Westphal |title=Daniele Gatti to Succeed Kurt Masur at Orchestre National de France |date=23 July 2007 |access-date=24 July 2007}}</ref> 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 [[The Proms|Proms]] concert in London.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jul/20/classicalmusicandopera4 |newspaper=The Guardian |first=George |last=Hall |title=LPO/ONF/Masur |date=20 July 2007 |access-date=24 July 2007}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/arts/music/kurt-masur-leads-new-york-philharmonic-at-avery-fisher-hall.html |newspaper=New York Times |first=Steve |last=Smith |title=A Maestro Returns With a Brahms Double Concerto and a Surprise Soloist |date=10 November 2012 |access-date=25 November 2014}}</ref>

==Students==
His students include [[Kahchun Wong]],<ref>{{cite news |first= |last=BBC Music Magazine |title=A passionate and sometimes volatile perfectionist... What was it like to study with conductor Kurt Masur? |url=https://www.classical-music.com/articles/conductor-kurt-masur |magazine=classical-music.com |date=12 December 2024 |access-date=19 March 2025}}</ref> [[Matthias Manasi]],<ref>{{cite news | author=Moderna TV |title=Матиас Манаси е един от най-известните и иновативни диригенти на международната музикална сцена |url=https://modernavratza.com/izvesten-nemski-dirigent-i-brilyantna-balgarska-pianistka-pristigat-vav-vraca-za-koncerta-na-16-ti-mart-v-meseca-na-klavishite_34442.html |magazine=modernavratza.com |date=13 March 2023 |access-date=28 March 2025}}</ref> [[Cornelius Meister]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Bernhard |last=Hartmann |title=Beethovenhalle: Nachwuchsdirigenten üben sich an Beethovens "Eroica" |url=https://ga.de/news/kultur-und-medien/regional/beethovenhalle-nachwuchsdirigenten-ueben-sich-an-beethovens-eroica_aid-40272613#0|magazine=ge.de |date=8 April 2008 |access-date=3 April 2025}}</ref> [[Ivo Hentschel]]<ref>{{cite news |first=Bernhard |last=Hartmann |title=Beethovenhalle: Nachwuchsdirigenten üben sich an Beethovens "Eroica" |url=https://ga.de/news/kultur-und-medien/regional/beethovenhalle-nachwuchsdirigenten-ueben-sich-an-beethovens-eroica_aid-40272613#0|magazine=ge.de |date=8 April 2008 |access-date=3 April 2025}}</ref> and [[Adrian Prabava]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Rick |last=Fulker |title=Charismatisch und unerbittlich: Kurt Masur |url=https://www.dw.com/de/charismatisch-und-unerbittlich-kurt-masur/a-18931119 |magazine=dw.com |date=20 December 2015 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref>

==Political views==
Although Masur spent most of his professional career in [[East Germany]], he never joined the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]].<ref name=Tsioulcas2015>{{cite news |first=Anastasia |last=Tsioulcas |title=Remembering Kurt Masur, the Conductor Who Rebuilt the New York Philharmonic |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2015/12/19/460392051/remembering-kurt-masur-the-conductor-who-rebuilt-the-new-york-philharmonic |work=NPR |date=19 December 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Walsh |title=New York Gets a Revolutionary |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969920,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930094822/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969920,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2007 |magazine=Time |date=23 April 1990 |access-date=12 August 2007}}</ref> On 9 October 1989, he intervened in [[Monday demonstrations in East Germany|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,<ref>{{cite book |last=Gaddis |first=John Lewis |title=The Cold War: A New History |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-59420-062-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/coldwarnewhistor00gadd/page/37 37] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/coldwarnewhistor00gadd/page/37 }}</ref> one month before the [[Berlin Wall#Fall of the Berlin Wall|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 [[Südfriedhof (Leipzig)|Leipzig's South Cemetery]]. He was survived by his third wife, as well as his daughters Angelika and Carolin, his sons, [[Ken-David Masur|Ken-David]], Michael and Matthias, and nine grandchildren.<ref name="Fox" />

==Awards==
[[File:Ehrengrab Masur.jpg|thumb| Kurt Masur burial site in [[Südfriedhof (Leipzig)]]
{{ external media|float=left|width=220px|audio1=You may hear the [[Gewandhaus Orchestra]] led by Kurt Masur performing Mendelssohn's Symphonies: <br> No. 1 in C minor, Op.11 <br> No. 2 in B flat, Op. 52 "Hymn of Praise"<br> No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, "Scottish" <br> No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 "Italian"<br> No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 107  "Reformation"<br> [https://archive.org/details/cd_symphonies-nos-1-5-felix-mendelssohn-barth_kurt-masur-leipzig-gewandhaus-orchestra/disc2/02.01.+Kurt+Masur+-+Leipzig+Gewandhaus+Orchestra+-+Mendelssohn+-+Symphony+%232+In+B+Flat%2C+Op.+52%2C+_Hymn+Of+Praise_+-+Symphony.flac '''Here on Archive.org''']}}]]
A professor at the [[University of Music and Theatre Leipzig|Leipzig Academy of Music]] beginning in 1975, Masur received numerous honors. He received the Cross of the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] in 1995, and the Gold Medal of Honor for Music from the [[National Arts Club]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalartsclub.org/committees/music |title=Medal of Honor Recipients, Music |publisher=The National Arts Club Music Committee |location=New York |access-date=18 July 2018}}</ref> In 1997, he was made a [[Commander of the Legion of Honor]] by the French government, as well as becoming a New York City Cultural Ambassador. 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 made an honorary citizen by his hometown, Brieg. In 2001, Masur became an honorary member of the [[Royal Academy of Music]].<ref name="Hon RAMS 14 October 09">{{cite web|title=Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music |url=http://www.ram.ac.uk/whoswho/Pages/HonRAM.aspx |publisher=Royal Academy of Music |date=14 October 2009 |access-date=14 October 2009 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203022036/http://www.ram.ac.uk/whoswho/Pages/HonRAM.aspx|archive-date=3 December 2009}}</ref>

In 2010, he received the [[Leo Baeck Medal]] ([[Leo Baeck Institute]]) for his humanitarian work promoting tolerance and social justice.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lbi.org/about/leo-baeck-medal/ |title=The Leo Baeck Medal |publisher=The Leo Baeck Institute |access-date=18 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lbi.org/de/news/leo-baeck-medal-kurt-masur/ |title=Leo Baeck Medal for Kurt Masur - Leo Baeck Institute |language=de |publisher=Lbi.org |date=2010-11-09 |accessdate=2022-05-05}}</ref> He received a {{Interlanguage link multi|Goldene Henne|de}} Award in 2014 for his work in public policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kurtmasur.com/bio_long.html |title=Kurt Masur – Biography |publisher=Kurt Masur, official site |access-date=19 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721123837/http://www.kurtmasur.com/bio_long.html |archive-date=21 July 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/kurt-masurs-91st-birthday/ |title=Kurt Masur's 91st Birthday |date=17 June 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Kurt Masur}}
* {{Official website|http://www.kurtmasur.com/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180723075246/http://www.kurtmasur.com/discography.html Discography of Kurt Masur]
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q39160}}
* {{discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|0557955|Kurt Masur}}
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/masur.html Interview with Kurt Masur], 8 June 1988
* [http://leobaeckinstitute.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/leo-baeck-medal-for-kurt-masur/ Leo Baeck Institute, "Leo Baeck Medal for Kurt Masur", 10 November 2010]

{{Navboxes|list=
 {{Dresdner Philharmonie conductors}}
 {{Gewandhausorchester conductors}}
 {{NYPhil music directors}}
 {{LPO principal conductors}}
 {{ONF conductors}}
}}
{{Portal bar|Classical music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masur, Kurt}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Brzeg]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Lower Silesia]]
[[Category:German male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:20th-century German conductors (music)]]
[[Category:20th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century German conductors (music)]]
[[Category:21st-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig]]
[[Category:Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music]]
[[Category:Fallschirmjäger of World War II]]
[[Category:Deutsche Grammophon artists]]
[[Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States]]
[[Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:East German musicians]]
[[Category:Kapellmeisters of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra]]
[[Category:Music directors of the New York Philharmonic]]
[[Category:Principal conductors of the London Philharmonic Orchestra]]
[[Category:Music directors of the Orchestre National de France]]
[[Category:Chief conductors of the Dresden Philharmonic]]