Maximilian Pilzer (February 26, 1890 – May 30, 1958) was a conductor and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist. He was

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the

New York Philharmonic orchestra The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

from 1915 to 1917.Anne Mischakoff Heiles, America’s Concertmasters (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2007) On May 30, 1958, Pilzer was conducting the annual

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...

Memorial Concert, at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, before thousands of spectators and a live radio audience. According to ''The New York Times'' "Mr. Pilzer was conducting

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

's gay overture to ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'' when he fell backward. His head struck the edge of the stage, where there is a strip of concrete." Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, and Pilzer was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilzer, Maximilian Deaths from falls American male conductors (music) 1890 births 1958 deaths Concertmasters of the New York Philharmonic 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American classical violinists 20th-century American male musicians American male classical violinists