Gustav Brecher (5 February 1879 – May 1940) was a German conductor, composer, and music critic. As director of the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Sing ...

, he conducted world premieres of works by Ernst Krenek and Kurt Weill, including ''

Jonny spielt auf ''Jonny spielt auf'' (''Jonny Strikes Up''), Op. 45, is a German-language with words and music by Austrian composer Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. He dedicated the opera to his second wife, Berta Herrmann.Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (german: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, links=no) is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the i ...

''. He was dismissed by the Nazis in 1933, lived at risk in Stalingrad, Berlin, Prague, and finally

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, where he took his life together with his wife's.

Life

Brecher was born in Eichwald, Ore Mountains, then in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. His Jewish family moved from Bohemia to Leipzig in 1889. Brecher was taught there by

Salomon Jadassohn Salomon Jadassohn (13 August 1831 – 1 February 1902) was a German pianist, composer and a renowned teacher of piano and composition at the Leipzig Conservatory. Life Jadassohn was born to a Jewish family living in Breslau, the capital of the ...

. Richard Strauss conducted his tone poem ''Rosmersholm'' in 1896. Brecher made his debut in 1897 at the

. From 1901, he conducted at the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

alongside Gustav Mahler. Between 1903 and 1911 he was Kapellmeister at the Hamburg State Opera, where he conducted the world premiere of Busoni's ''

Die Brautwahl ''Die Brautwahl'' (''The Bridal Choice'') is a "comic-fantastic" opera in three acts and an epilogue by Ferruccio Busoni. The German libretto, by Busoni himself, is based on a short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Busoni began work on this, his first c ...

''. After conducting at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in th ...

and

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

, Brecher was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) at the Leipzig Opera from 1914. He was particularly controversial there because of the premieres of Krenek's operas ''

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (german: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, links=no) is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the i ...

'': Although the ''Jonny'' opera was a success, Brecher was dismissed after the Nazis seized power in the spring of 1933, based on the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. In the ''

Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 'Die'' (; en, " heNew Journal of Music") is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appeared on 3 April 1834. His ...

'', the musicologist

Alfred Heuß Alfred Valentin Heuß also Heuss (27 January 1877 – 9 July 1934) was a German musicologist, music critic and editor of music magazines. Life Born in Chur, after studying music in Stuttgart, Munich and Leipzig, Heuß received his doctorate in ...

wrote a malicious commentary on the occasion of the ''

Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Rie ...

'' performance during the Wagner Festival week on 12 February 1933: "Unsuspecting, Brecher handled his peculiarly small baton for the last time in a Wagner performance." His last appearance in Leipzig was probably Weill's ''

Der Silbersee ''Der Silbersee: ein Wintermärchen'' (''The Silver Lake: a Winter's Fairy Tale'') is a 'play with music' in three acts by Kurt Weill to a German text by Georg Kaiser. The subtitle is an allusion to Heinrich Heine's 1844 satirical epic poem, '' G ...

'' on 4 March 1933, when he left the podium during the performance because of constant roaring by the SA present, who were attacking his Jewish origins and objecting to the opera. The mayor of Leipzig,

Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...

, granted him leave on 11 March 1933. His path into exile cannot be traced in detail. He conducted the radio orchestra in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in five concerts. There in 1934, Georges Sébastian wrote: Brecher lived in Berlin for a while, when

Erich Ebermayer Erich Ebermayer (14 September 1900 – 22 September 1970) was a German writer of plays, novels and articles. He was also a screenwriter involved with around thirty films including the 1937 historical production ''Madame Bovary''.Paietta & Ka ...

noted on 13 October 1935 in his diary: Brecher moved to Prague, where he had to flee once more in 1938. He spent almost a year in

, from spring 1939 to May 1940, staying first the Hôtel Wellington and then at the Hôtel Littoral, both on the seafront. He was with his wife Gertrud Deutsch (daughter of Felix Deutsch), his mother-in-law, Elisabeth 'Lili' Kahn Deutsch and her housekeeper/maid, Hermine Voigtmann. The latter, who was not Jewish, left Ostend in August 1939Algemeen Rijksarchief, Brussels, Vreemdelingen dossier A350.970 (Hermine Voigtmann) The fate of the Brecher family is not known but they disappeared without a trace around May 1940 when the Germans occupied Belgium. Their files in the Algemeen Rijksarchief in Brussels retrospectively state they 'left for England'. It is not certain if they committed suicide or perished at sea. Gustav Brecher - Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg-Neustadt)

Gustav Brecher - Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg-Neustadt)

A ''

Stolperstein A (; plural ; literally 'stumbling stone', metaphorically a 'stumbling block') is a sett-size, concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. The project, initia ...

'' in front of the Hamburg State Opera reminds of his fate.

References

External links

Nachlassverzeichnis
in the

Zentralbibliothek Zürich ''Zentralbibliothek Zürich'' (Zurich Central Library) is the main library of both the city and the University of Zurich, housed in the ''Predigerkloster'', the former Black Friars' abbey, in the old town's Rathaus quarter. It was founded in ...

* * Jitka Balatková
''Eine kurze Nachricht über Gustav Brecher in Olmütz''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brecher, Gustav German conductors (music) 20th-century German composers Music directors 1879 births 1940 suicides People from Teplice Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust German Jews who died in the Holocaust Suicides in Belgium

Life

Further reading

References

External links