Word: masur
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...living composer of so-called serious music exerts so much hold on the imagination and loyalty of his interpreters as does the reclusive Schnittke, 59. Performers from the old East bloc such as violinist Gidon Kremer, a fellow Soviet emigre, cellist-conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and conductor Kurt Masur have been championing his works for years. Now, it seems, the rest of the world is catching...
...music reflects not only his own life, it reflects ideas about life and death, just as the greatest composers have always had," notes Masur, who has known Schnittke personally since 1974. Masur last month led the New York Philharmonic in the world premiere of Schnittke's spare, incantational Symphony No. 7, which the orchestra commissioned at Masur's insistence...
...became musical adviser after Szell's death in 1970; by Lorin Maazel, music director from 1972 to 1982; and now by Dohnanyi, it has added a voluptuousness that sets it above its stiffest American competition -- principally, Daniel Barenboim's Chicago Symphony, Leonard Slatkin's St. Louis Symphony and Kurt Masur's New York Philharmonic...
...response, orchestras are busy innovating. The New York Philharmonic, invigorated under the new leadership of managing director Deborah Borda and conductor Kurt Masur, recently instituted a series of informal Rush Hour Concerts, which begin at 6:45 p.m. and feature off-the-cuff commentary from the podium before each piece. The New York musicians also open up the stage to local schoolchildren, encouraging them to try out the instruments, as do players in Baltimore and elsewhere. "It is wonderful to interact with the kids and to see my colleagues do something from the heart," says Baltimore flutist Mark Sparks...
...right protocol was observed. KURT MASUR, making his first appearance as music director of the New York Philharmonic (succeeding Zubin Mehta), rightly judged that the occasion was more ceremonial than musical. So the German maestro began with a polite bow to America, conducting two short pieces by contemporary composer John Adams and a set of Old American Songs by Aaron Copland (winningly sung by baritone Thomas Hampson). Then Masur, who has led Leipzig's venerable Gewandhaus Orchestra since 1970, reached under his tailcoat and produced his own credential: an authoritative, warmly expressive version of Anton Bruckner's Symphony...