Rolf Reuter (7 October 1926 – 10 September 2007) was a German conductor.

Life

Reuter was born as son of the composer

Fritz Reuter Fritz Reuter (7 November 1810 – 12 July 1874; born as ''Heinrich Ludwig Christian Friedrich Reuter'') was a novelist from Northern Germany who was a prominent contributor to Low German literature. Early life Fritz Reuter was born at Stavenha ...

in Leipzig. After studying music at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden he began his career in 1951 as Kapellmeister at the theatre in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

. In 1956 he moved to Meiningen, from there Reuter went to

Oper Leipzig 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 Singsp ...

as general music director in 1961. From 1978 to 1980 he was chief conductor of the

Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar The (DNT) is a German theatre and musical organisation based in Weimar. It is a twin institution, consisting of the theatrical (German National Theatre, now solely based in Weimar) and the symphony orchestra known as the . It has a total of s ...

. From 1981 Reuter was General music director of the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, al ...

, where he remained until 1993. His numerous guest performances and

master class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

es have taken him around the world, including Paris, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Houston and Buenos Aires, as well as Israel, Italy, France, Spain, the former Soviet Union, Bulgaria, etc. His conducting, partly in collaboration with

Harry Kupfer Harry Alfred Robert Kupfer (12 August 1935 – 30 December 2019) was a German opera director and academic. A long-time director at the Komische Oper Berlin, he worked at major opera houses and at festivals internationally. Trained by Walter Fels ...

, for example the Mozart cycle, Wagner's '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', '' Boris Godunov'', and the world premiere of Siegfried Matthus' opera '' Judith'', significantly shaped the artistic profile of the Komische Oper Berlin. Among the most important artists with whom he performed are David Oistrach,

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

David Geringas David Geringas ( lt, Dovydas Geringas; born 29 July 1946 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian cellist and conductor who studied under Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1970 he won the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. He also plays the b ...

Alfredo Kraus Alfredo Kraus Trujillo (; 24 November 192710 September 1999) was a distinguished Spanish tenor from the Canary islands (known professionally as Alfredo Kraus), particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles. He wa ...

, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Christa Ludwig, Peter Seiffert, Kiri Te Kanawa,

Theo Adam Theo Adam (1 August 1926 – 10 January 2019) was a German operatic bass-baritone and bass singer who had an international career in opera, concert and recital from 1949. He was a member of the Staatsoper Dresden for his entire career, and sang ...

and many more. Since 1966 Reuter had also been director of conducting at the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

in addition to his conducting activities. He was president of the

Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the ...

Society and honorary professor at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in Berlin. World-famous conductors emerged from his teaching, for example

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began h ...

Walter Taieb Walter Taieb (born February 13, 1973 in Paris, France) is a French record producer, songwriter, composer and conductor. Career In the mid-1990s, Taieb was a member of the house music group the Original, which scored a hit single in 1995 with " I ...

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...

Georg Christoph Biller Georg Christoph Biller (20 September 1955 – 27 January 2022) was a German choral conductor. He conducted the Thomanerchor as the sixteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach from 1992 to 2015. He was also a baritone, an academic teacher, ...

Claus Peter Flor Claus Peter Flor (born 16 March 1953, Leipzig) is a German conductor. Flor studied violin and clarinet at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Zwickau. He continued his music studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar and the HMT Felix ...

as well as

Shi-Yeon Sung Shi-Yeon Sung (born 1975, in Busan) is a South Korean classical conductor. In 2006, she became the first woman to win first prize in the Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition. In 2007, she won second prize in Bamberg's Gustav Mah ...

. Reuter died in Berlin at age 80. His grave is located at the in Dresden. The violist Sophia Reuter is his daughter.

Honours and Critic

Reuter was an honorary member of the Komische Oper Berlin and the Leipziger Opera. In 2000 he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz. He was awarded the National Prize and the Patriotic Order of Merit of the GDR as well as the Franz Liszt Prize of the Republic of Hungary. Shortly before his death the conductor got into public criticism, because he opened on 13 May 2006 together with a "Singleiterkurs" of the and held on this occasion two lectures with the titles ''Das deutsche Volkslied als Mutterboden der Hochkultur'' (The German folk song as the breeding ground of high culture) and ''Anton Bruckner und die deutsche Volksseele'' (Anton Bruckner and the German People's Soul) in front of the neo-fascist organization. Reuter did not deny having given these lectures, nor the personal contact to this organization. In response to strong public pressure and numerous reports in the German press, he expressly dissociated himself from the ideas of these and all other right-wing and left-wing radical organizations. The Bundespräsidialamt did not grant a demand by the member of the

Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchne ...

, the SPD politician Tom Schreiber, to deprive the conductor of the Federal Cross of Merit awarded in 2000.Obituary
/ref> Prominent pupils, such as

in the Leipziger Volkszeitung, stressed that his teaching had taken place in a humanist spirit. Reuters last students at

Berlin joined a public statement that his teaching was cosmopolitan, tolerant and humane. Many of his colleagues, friends and confidants from politics and culture stood up for him in the press and intervened at the Office of the Federal President against Tom Schreiber's request to withdraw the Federal Cross of Merit.

Recordings

* Handel: ''

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato ("The Cheerful, the Thoughtful, and the Moderate Man"), HWV 55, is a pastoral ode by George Frideric Handel based on the poetry of John Milton. History Handel composed the work over the period of 19 January to 4 February 1740,Michael O'Connel ...

.'' Oratorium HWV 5 by Berlin Classics Edel Records * Beethoven: '' Musik zu Goethes Trauerspiel Egmont,'' Op. 84, by

Eterna Eterna is a Swiss luxury watch company founded in Grenchen, Canton Solothurn, on 7 November 1856 by Josef Girard and Urs Schild. The company is now owned by Hong Kong-based Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited, an investment holding co ...

(820 737, MONO), with the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

* H. Pfitzner: ''Das Herz'' (opera) by Marco Polo * H. Pfitzner: ''Das dunkle Reich – Der Blumen Rache'' * H. Berlioz: '' Symphonie fantastique'' * H. Berlioz: ''Lelio oder Die Rückkehr ins Leben,'' Op. 14b by Berlin Classics Edel Records * S. Matthus: ''Judith'' (opera) by Berlin Classics Edel Records * ''Klassik in Weimar (Festliche Weihnachtskonzerte).'' Works by Corelli, Telemann, Tartini among others. * ''Klassik in Weimar (Serenade im Park).'' Works by W. A. Mozart

References

External links

*
Gedenkseite für Reuter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reuter, Rolf Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany German conductors (music) Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin 1926 births 2007 deaths Musicians from Leipzig 20th-century German musicians