I just saw the news that Kurt Masur has passed, he was 88 years old. Yet another of that great generation of conductors. :(
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Lovely man, great musician. He will be dearly missed.
Rest in Peace, maestro.
Sad news. RIP.
"There's nothing good about growing old," Woody Allen sez. But the absolute worst about it is having to say goodbye to the ones you love.
Quote from: ZauberdrachenNr.7 on December 19, 2015, 09:02:10 AM
"There's nothing good about growing old," Woody Allen sez. But the absolute worst about it is having to say goodbye to the ones you love.
Amen to that! :blank:
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Sad news indeed, I'm sorry to hear that. I only listened to his Liszt recordings, but they were excellent. RIP.
Rest in peace maestro.
I first came to know maestro Masur through his recording of the Mussorgsky-Gorchakov Pictures at an Exhibition. The Sergei Gorchakov orchestration was one that he championed (for some reasons) and he preferred that one over to Ravel's effort.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Feb13/Mussorgsky_Pictures_2564659389.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2009/Jul-Dec09/rpo2511.htm
Rest in peace Kurt Masur! I loved the videos on YouTube of his conducting with Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, especially of Mendelssohn. Wonderful music maker!
I still remember his recording of Shostakovich 13 with poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko reading his poem "Babi Yar" before the symphony began. Walk in beauty, Maestro.
May he rest in peace. He did a number of excellent recordings. I particularly cherish his Mahler 9.
I like Masur's Mendelssohn in particular. Another conductor of his generation passes away...
I imagine more will follow in the years to come, Harnoncourt and Haitink come to mind.
And now I know I'm getting older as well. Why?
The younger generation of symphonic conductors - I hardly know their names....let alone that I know what they sound like.... ::)
Q
He also conducted the first (and I think there has been only one (Harnoncourt) since then) recording of Schumann's only opera "Genoveva". I have heard few of his recordings, except his Mendelssohn which is quite good. Also Shostakovich 13th but I only had this from the library almost 20 years ago, so I do not remember much. His Beethoven was somewhat too staid and old-fashioned for my taste.
r.i.p.
Quote from: Jo498 on December 20, 2015, 05:36:38 AM
His Beethoven was somewhat too staid and old-fashioned for my taste.
r.i.p.
Agreed, his was a solid but relatively restrained musical personality, always reliable but rarely inspired or inspiring. I'm just being honest here. Saw him quite a few times while he was leading the NY Philharmonic.
" Masur died at the age of 88 in Greenwich, Connecticut, from complications of Parkinson's disease. "