Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German
conductor.
Biography
Albrecht was born in
Essen, the son of the musicologist Hans Albrecht (1902–1961).
He studied music in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
and in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, where his teachers included
Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg
Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg (15 April 1906, in Stuttgart – 1 April 1985, in Hamburg) was a German conductor.
He began his career in Munich as an assistant to Hans Knappertsbusch at the Bavarian State Opera. After several appointments in Essen, ...
. He was a first-prize winner at the
International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors The International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors, is a music competition for young conducting, conductors in the city of Besançon, France.
History
The competition was organized for the first time in 1951 by the music and film critic an ...
at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the
Stuttgart State Opera
The Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart serves as its resident orchestra.
History
Performances of operas, ballet a ...
. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the
Staatstheater Mainz, and ''
Generalmusikdirektor'' in
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
. He also held posts at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet.
Since 2004, the D ...
, the
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich is a Swiss symphony orchestra based in Zürich. Its principal residence is the Tonhalle concert hall.
Early history prior to the orchestra
Precursor music ensembles in Zürich have included the music societies ...
and the
Hamburg State Opera.
His work in contemporary opera included conducting
Aribert Reimann
Aribert Reimann (born 4 March 1936) is a German composer, pianist and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', the opera '' Lear'', was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Diesk ...
's ''
Lear
Lear or Leir may refer to:
Acronyms
* Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, a Mexican association of revolutionary artists and writers
* Low Energy Ion Ring, an ion pre-accelerator of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN
** Low Energy Antipr ...
'' in both its world premiere and its United States premiere, as well as making the first commercial recording of the opera. His other commercial recordings include
Robert Schumann's ''
Genoveva
''Genoveva'', Op. 81, is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at ...
'' and ''
Manfred
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
Byr ...
'', and the first commercial recording of
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...
's ''Gogo no Eiko'' (''The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea'') in its revised Japanese-language version.
Albrecht died at age 78 on 2 February 2014 in Berlin.
Czech Philharmonic controversy
In 1991, the musicians of the
Czech Philharmonic picked Albrecht as its principal conductor, the first non-Czech conductor named to the post, for a tenure scheduled to last seven years beginning in 1994. The orchestra had played a part in protesting the Soviet domination of their country and reorganized as a self-governing entity. The musician's selection of Albrecht effectively meant the replacing of Czech conductor
Jiří Bělohlávek
Jiří Bělohlávek, (; 24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasio ...
, who then in 1992 resigned from his position early. Consequently, by the time that he took up the post, the orchestra was already somewhat riven. Albrecht proved effective in improving the Czech Philharmonic's finances and at raising its international profile with foreign tours. He is also acknowledged to have been a musical success, and his recordings with the orchestra included music of
Ervin Schulhoff
Erwin Schulhoff ( cs, Ervín Šulhov; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the ...
. However, a series of political conflicts led to his early resignation.
In 1994, the Czech Philharmonic was invited to perform at the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
in a concert celebrating reconciliation between
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
s and
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
s. However, the invitation was to play under the American conductor
Gilbert Levine
Sir Gilbert Levine, GCSG (born January 22, 1948) is an American conductor. He is considered an "outstanding personality in the world of international music television." He has led the PBS concert debuts of the Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Phi ...
, already known for his close relationship with the Vatican under
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
and subsequently for the telecast, ''Papal Concert to Commemorate the Holocaust''. Albrecht vetoed the engagement, ostensibly because the orchestra was too busy, although other speculation on the actual reason for the refusal was that the Vatican did not invite Albrecht.
Czech president
Václav Havel
Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...
became involved, telling Albrecht that his actions were damaging the orchestra. The situation steadily deteriorated, with Albrecht painting himself in press interviews as a victim of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
and anti-German feeling and for being expected personally to atone for all past German misdeeds. He also claimed that his phone was bugged. Havel retaliated in the media with his own claims. Albrecht and Bělohlávek collaborated for the 100th anniversary concert, each conducting half of it, on January 4, 1996, but Havel was conspicuously absent and members of the orchestra showed their allegiances when the time came for applause. Albrecht resigned from this post a month later asserting that his musical authority had been undermined.
With the Czech Philharmonic, Albrecht conducted the first commercial recording of Dvořák's opera ''
Dimitrij
Dimitrij is a masculine given name related to Demetrius
Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter".
Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitr ...
''.
Other conducting work
From 2000 to 2004, he was principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, with which he made commercial recordings for such labels as Chandos. In 2003, he caused controversy when he spoke from the podium at one concert to protest the US invasion of Iraq. He later apologized for the incident.
In Japan, he served as principal conductor of
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese symphony orchestra administratively based in Tokyo. The orchestra primarily performs concerts in Tokyo at the Suntory Hall, but also gives concerts at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. The orchestra also performs in Yokohama a ...
from 1998 to 2007, and became its conductor laureate after 2007.
Recordings of complete operas
Berlioz, troyens, Les,
Albrecht/Dernesch/Ludwig/Lilowa/Chauvet/Schöne/Ghiuselev,
1976, live in Vienna, Gala
Busoni, Arlecchino,
Albrecht/Bellamy/Wörle/Lorenz/Pape/Lika,
1992, Capriccio
Busoni, Turandot,
Albrecht/Plech/Schreckenbach/Protschka/Pape,
1992, Capriccio
Dvořák, Armida,
Albrecht/Borowska/Ochman/Kříž/Fortune/Daniluk,
1995, live in Prague, Orfeo
Dvořák, Devil and Kate (Čert a Káča), The,
Albrecht/Romanko/Breedt/Straka/Mikuláš,
2007, Orfeo
Dvořák, Dimitrij,
Albrecht/Hajóssyová/Ághová/Vodička/Kusnjer/Mikuláš,
1989, Supraphon
Dvořák, Jakobín,
Albrecht/Danková/Ághová/Lorenz/Lehotsky/Bronikowski/Stephinger,
2003, Orfeo
Dvořák, King and Collier (Král a uhlíř),
Albrecht/Ághová/Breedt/Lehotsky/Schäfer/Jenis/Mikuláš,
2005, live in Cologne, Orfeo
Dvořák, Svatební košile,
Albrecht/Ághová/Protschka/Kusnjer,
1991, live in Hamburg, Orfeo
Dvořák, Vanda,
Albrecht/Romanko/Tchistiakova/Breedt/Straka/Kusnjer/Kusnjer/Daniluk,
1999, Orfeo
Gurlitt, Soldaten,
Albrecht/Müller/Barainsky/Breedt/Harper/Mohr/Burt,
1998, Orfeo
Gurlitt, Wozzeck,
Albrecht/Lindsley/Wottrich/Wörle/Scharinger/Hermann,
1993, Crystal
Halévy, Juive, La,
Albrecht/Ghazarian/Tokody/Carreras/Merritt/Siepi,
1981, live in Vienna, abridged, Legato
Henze, Bassarids, The,
Albrecht/Lindsley/Armstrong/Riegel/Tear/Schmidt-A/Murray-W/Burt,
1986, Koch
Henze, verratene Meer (Gogo no Eiko), Das,
Albrecht/Midorikawa/Takahashi/Mihara,
2006, live in Salzburg, Orfeo
Hindemith, Cardillac,
Albrecht/Schweizer/Schunk/Nimsgern/Stamm,
1988, Wergo
Hindemith, Mathis der Maler,
Albrecht/Rossmanith/Hass/Protschka/Kruse/Hermann/Stamm,
1989, Wergo
Hindemith, Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen,
Albrecht/Schnaut/Grundheber,
1986, Wergo
Hindemith, Nusch-Nuschi, Das,
Albrecht/Schweizer/Lindsley/Sieber/Schreckenbach/Gahmlich/Knutson/Stamm/Halem,
1987, Wergo
Hindemith, Sancta Susanna,
Albrecht/Donath/Schnaut/Schreckenbach,
1984, Wergo
Janáček, Osud,
Albrecht/Ághová/Straka,
1995, live in Prague, Orfeo
Krenek, Karl V,
Albrecht/Jurinac/Ciesinski-Kr/Schwarz/Moser-T/Melchert/Schreier/Adam,
1980, live in Salzburg, Philips
Liebermann-R, Freispruch für Medea,
Albrecht/Pollet/Spingler/Kowalski/Haugland/Mist,
1995, live in Hamburg, Musiques Suisses
Marschner, Hans Heiling,
Albrecht/Zeumer/Schröder-Feinen/Gilles/Siukola/Weikl,
1972, live in Torino, Voce
Massenet, Thérèse,
Albrecht/Baltsa/Araiza/Fortune,
1981, live in Rome, Orfeo
Mercadante, giuramento, Il,
Albrecht/Bernard/Baltsa/Carreras/Kerns,
1974, live in Berlin, House of Opera
Mercadante, giuramento, Il,
Albrecht/Zampieri/Baltsa/Domingo/Kerns,
1979, live in Vienna, Orfeo
Meyerbeer, africaine, L’,
Albrecht/Brunner/Arroyo/Lamberti/Milnes,
1977, live in Munich, Myto
Puccini, Gianni Schicchi,
Albrecht/Ghazarian/Lilowa/Ramiro/Berry,
1979, live in Vienna, Orfeo
Puccini, Gianni Schicchi,
Albrecht/Rossmanith/Dernesch/Ombuena Valls/Duesing,
1995, DVD, Hamburg, Encore
Puccini, Suor Angelica,
Albrecht/Lorengar/Meyer,
1979, live in Vienna, Bella Voce
Puccini, Suor Angelica,
Albrecht/Gallardo-Domâs/Dernesch,
1995, DVD, Hamburg, Encore
Puccini, tabarro, Il,
Albrecht/Zschau/Atlantov/Bruson,
1979, live in Vienna, Bella Voce
Puccini, tabarro, Il,
Albrecht/Daniels/Margison/Grundheber,
1995, DVD, Hamburg, Encore
Reimann, Lear,
Albrecht/Varady/Dernesch/Lorand/Knutson/Götz/Holm/Boysen/Fischer-Dieskau/Plöcker,
1978, live in Munich, DG
Schnittke, D Johann Fausten, Historia von,
Albrecht/Schwarz/Raunig/Büchner/Lorenz/Freier,
1995, live in Hamburg, RCA
Schoeck, Penthesilea,
Albrecht/Gessendorf/Marsh/Dernesch/Lipovšek/Hiestermann/Adam,
1982, live in Salzburg, Orfeo
Schönberg, Erwartung,
Albrecht/Nielsen,
2003, Chandos
Schreker, ferne Klang, Der,
Albrecht/Schnaut/Juon/Wörle/Moser-T/Hermann/Nimsgern,
1990, Capriccio
Schreker, Gezeichneten, Die,
Albrecht/Martin-Ja/Riegel/Becht/Adam/Meven,
1984, live in Salzburg, Orfeo
Schreker, Schatzgräber, Der,
Albrecht/Schnaut/Kruse/Protschka/Haage/Helm/Stamm,
1989, live in Hamburg, abridged, Capriccio
Schumann, Genoveva,
Albrecht/Faulkner/Behle-R/Lewis-K/Stamm/Titus/Schultz,
1992, live in Hamburg, Orfeo
Spohr, Jessonda,
Albrecht/Studer/Soffel/Moser-T/Hermann/Hölle,
1985, live in Vienna, Voce
Spohr, Jessonda,
Albrecht/Varady/Behle-R/Moser-T/Fischer-Dieskau/Moll,
1990, live in Hamburg, abridged, Orfeo
Spontini, Olimpie,
Albrecht/Varady/Toczyska/Tagliavini/Fischer-Dieskau/Fortune,
1984, Orfeo
Ullmann, zerbrochene Krug, Der,
Albrecht/Barainsky/Breedt/Künzli/Hermann,
1997, Orfeo
Wolf, Corregidor, Der,
Albrecht/Donath/Soffel/Hollweg/Fischer-Dieskau/Halem,
1985, Koch Schwann
Zemlinsky, florentinische Tragödie, Eine,
Albrecht/Soffel/Riegel/Sarabia,
1984, Schwann
Zemlinsky, König Kandaules, Der,
Albrecht/Warren/O’Neal/Pederson,
1996, live in Hamburg, Capriccio
Zemlinsky, Traumgörge, Der,
Albrecht/Martin-Ja/Protschka,
1988, Capriccio
Zemlinsky, Zwerg, Der,
Albrecht/Nielsen/Studer/Haldas/Riegel/Weller,
1983, Schwann
References
External links
*
*
Semperoper English-language biography of Gerd Albrecht
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albrecht, Gerd
1935 births
2014 deaths
Musicians from Essen
German male conductors (music)
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
20th-century German conductors (music)
20th-century German male musicians