Kurt Masur was Conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1970 to 1996. He passed away on 19 December 2015. The City of Leipzig said farewell to Prof. Kurt Masur during a funeral service in St. Thomas' Church on 14 January 2016. To commemorate the musician, a Gala Concert will be held at 20.00 in the Gewandhaus on 16 April 2016. The Gewandhaus Orchestra will be conducted by Michael Sanderling while the soloist will be Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Between 1988 and 1992, Michael Sanderling was the solo cellist in the Gewandhaus Orchestra under the direction of Kurt Masur. In his capacity as Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Sanderling is a successor to Kurt Masur who held this position from 1967 to 1972.
The star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who performed countless times with Kurt Masur, was one of the closest musical partners of the conductor. During the Gala Concert she will play Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Violin Concerto in E minor (op 64), which she last performed in the Gewandhaus under the direction of Kurt Masur on 6 and 7 March 2008.
The Leipzig composer Steffen Schleiermacher is writing a new work for this concert. It will be performed for the first time by the Gewandhaus Orchestra on this evening. In 1988 Schleiermacher was commissioned by Kurt Masur to conduct the series "musica nova" which was revived at the instigation of Masur under the name "Kommunikation" on the occasion of the opening of the Gewandhaus on Augustusplatz. The first orchestral work by Schleiermaier, "Music for Timpani and Orchestra", was premiered by the Gewandhaus Orchestra under the direction of Kurt Masur in 1985.
Musical programme
Ludwig van Beethoven
Overture to Goethe's tragedy
"Egmont" op. 84
Steffen Schleiermacher
Premiere - in memory of Kurt Masur
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
in E minor, op. 64 MWV O 14
Tickets
The proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to charity. Tickets for the concert priced 60/50/40/30/20 Euro can only be obtained from the Gewandhaus box office or in the online shop on the Gewandhaus website.
The Gala Concert is now sold out. Anyone interested in attending can contact the Gewandhaus box office (phone: 0341 1270-280, e-mail: tickets@gewandhaus.de) to request that their name be placed on the waiting list.