Kurt Masur |

Kurt Masur

Since 1958, when this conductor visited the USSR for the first time, he has performed with us almost every year – both with our orchestras and at the console of the Komische Opera Theater during the latter’s tour of the USSR. This alone testifies to the recognition that Mazur won from the Soviet audience, who fell in love with him, as they say, at first sight, especially since the artist’s attractive and elegant conductor’s style is complemented by a charming appearance: a tall, stately figure, “pop” in the best sense of the word appearance. And most importantly – Mazur has established himself as a peculiar and profound musician. Not without reason, after his first tour in the USSR, composer A. Nikolaev wrote: “For a long time it has not been possible to hear such a perfect playing of the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR, as under the baton of this conductor.” And eight years later, in the same magazine “Soviet Music”, another reviewer noted that “the natural charm, excellent taste, cordiality and “confidence” of his music-making endear him to the hearts of both orchestra artists and listeners.”

Mazur’s entire conducting career developed extremely rapidly and happily. He was one of the first conductors brought up in the young German Democratic Republic. In 1946, Mazur entered the Leipzig Higher School of Music, where he studied conducting under the guidance of G. Bongarz. Already in 1948, he received an engagement at the theater in the city of Halle, where he worked for three years. His first performance in 1949 was Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Then Mazur is appointed as the first conductor of the Erfurt Theatre; it was here that his concert activity began. The repertoire of the young conductor was enriched year by year. “The Force of Destiny” and “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Mermaid” and “Tosca”, classical symphonies and works by contemporary authors… Even then, critics recognize Mazur as a conductor with an undoubted future. And soon he justified this forecast with his work as chief conductor of the opera house in Leipzig, conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, “General Music Director” in Schwerin and, finally, chief conductor of the Komische Oper Theater in Berlin.

The fact that W. Felsenstein invited Mazur to join his staff was explained not only by the increased reputation of the conductor, but also by his interesting work in the musical theater. Among them were the German premieres of the operas “Hari Janos” by Kodai, “Romeo and Julia” by G. Zoetermeister, “From the Dead House” by Jakaczek, the renewal of the operas “Radamist” by Handel and “Joy and Love” by Haydn, productions of “Boris Godunov” by Mussorgsky and ” Arabella” by R. Strauss. In Komish Oper, Mazur added a number of new works to this impressive list, including the production of Verdi’s Otello, familiar to Soviet audiences. He also held many premieres and revivals on the concert stage; among them new works by German composers – Eisler, Chilensek, Tilman, Kurz, Butting, Herster. At the same time, his repertoire possibilities are now very wide: only in our country he performed works by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schumann, R. Strauss, Respighi, Debussy, Stravinsky and many other authors.

Since 1957, Mazur has toured extensively outside the GDR. He successfully performed in Finland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and a number of other countries.

L. Grigoriev, J. Platek, 1969