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February 2014

† Gerd Albrecht

No one can reasonably expect a conductor to be an easy-going personality. But in the case of Gerd Albrecht, who died in Berlin on 2 February 2014 at the age of 78, we really have to admit that he was a man wholly uninterested in restricting himself to the straightforward, standard repertoire or to tried and tested recipes for success. After beginning his career in Lübeck in 1963 as Germany’s youngest General Music Director, two factors of prime concern to him were to have a fundamental impact on his international reputation as a conductor.
Gerd Albrecht
Foto: Matthias HeydeThese were his desire to communicate and educate – bringing new audiences to classical music through “conversation concerts” and via the radio and TV – and his urge to push the boundaries of the common or garden repertoire. Over several decades he gave numerous world premières of works by composers such as Henze, Ligeti, Reimann, Rihm and Schnittke, both in the concert hall and the opera house (especially, though not solely, during his tenure as director in Hamburg, 1988-97). He also performed works by Bohemian composers that had not otherwise found their way to the concert podium or the operatic stage. Thus it was that Gerd Albrecht took a personal interest in performing little-known operas such as Armida, The Spectre’s Bride, The Jacobin, King and Charcoal Burner, Saint Ludmilla and The Devil and Kate, all by Antonín Dvořák, and Osud by Leoš Janáček. The course of his career also reflects his interest in this repertoire, because from 1993 to 1996 he was the first-ever foreigner to be appointed as chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. Albrecht also rediscovered works by composers who had been forgotten or ignored or had been unjustly excluded from the canon, such as those branded “degenerate” by the Nazis. The ORFEO catalogue offers many such examples of Albrecht’s tireless endeavours for these composers. Yet it is also noteworthy that these many recordings offer but a mere selection from the oeuvre of this highly versatile conductor.

Gerd Albrecht

* July 19, 1935 † February 2, 2014

C 288 921 A Beethoven, Ludwig van Musik zu "Egmont"; Leonore II Ziesak; Tukur; Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg; Gerd Albrecht

C 404 962 H Dvořák, Antonín Armida Borowska, Daniluk, Fortune, Ochman; Prager Kammerchor; Tschechische Philharmonie; Gerd Albrecht

C 259 921 A Dvořák, Antonín Svatební košile (Die Geisterbraut) Aghová, Protschka, Kusnjer; Prager Philharmonischer Chor; Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg; Gerd Albrecht

C 641 043 F Dvořák, Antonín Jacobín (Der Jakobiner) Danková, Aghová, Bronikowski, Lehotsky, Mikuláš, Stephinger; Prager Kammerchor; WDR Rundfunkchor; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gerd Albrecht

C 678 062 H Dvořák, Antonín Král a uhlíř (König und Köhler) Jenis, Mikulaš, Aghová, Breedt, Lehotsky; Prager Kammerchor; WDR Rundfunkchor; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gerd Albrecht

C 513 992 H Dvořák, Antonín Svatá Ludmila Aghová, Breedt, Beczala, Vele; Prager Kammerchor; WDR Rundfunkchor; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gerd Albrecht

C 777 082 H Dvořák, Antonín Cert a Kača (Die Teufelskäthe) Breedt, Romanko, Straka, Mikulaš, Kotchinian, Sabrowski; Prager Kammerchor; WDR Rundfunkchor; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gerd Albrecht

C 149 003 F Dvořák, Antonín Wanda Romanko, Breedt, Straka, Daniluk; Prager Kammerchor; WDR Rundfunkchor; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gerd Albrecht

C 350 951 A Fibich, Zdeňek Symphonie No. 3 e-Moll; Toman a lesní panna (Toman und die Waldnymphe); Bouře (Der Sturm) Tschechische Philharmonie; Gerd Albrecht

C 403 971 A Foerster, Joseph Bohuslav Violinkonzert No. 1 c-Moll; Cyrano de Bergerac op. 55 Duka Löwenstein; RSO Wien; Tschechische Philharmonie; Gerd Albrecht

C 482 992 H Gurlitt, Manfred Soldaten Barainsky, Breedt, Lindsley, Burt, Harper, Mohr, Wörle; Rundfunkchor Berlin; DSO Berlin; Gerd Albrecht

C 337 941 A Haas; Klein; Schulhoff; Ullmann Symphonie No. 2 WV 101; Studie für Streichorchester; Partita für Streichorch.; Symphonie No. 2 D-Dur Tschechische Philharmonie; Gerd Albrecht

C 794 092 I Henze, Hans Werner Gogo no Eiko (Das verratene Meer, Revision 2003) Midorikawa, Takahashi, Mihara; Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai; Gerd Albrecht

C 059 051 A Janáček, Leoš Lašské tance (Lachische Tänze), Suita op. 3, Hospodine (Kyrie eleison), Otčenás (Vater unser) Aghová, Remmert, Straka, Daniluk; NDR Chor; WDR Rundfunkchor; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gerd Albrecht

C 384 951 A Janáček, Leoš Osud Straka, Aghová, Margita, Mikulaš; Prager Kammerchor; Tschechische Philharmonie; Gerd Albrecht

C 527 002 I Krenek, Ernst Karl V. Jurinac, Ciesinski, Schwarz, Adam, Moser, Vogel; ORF-Chor; RSO Wien; Gerd Albrecht

C 387 961 A Massenet, Jules Thérèse Baltsa, Araiza, Fortune, Luccardi; Coro ed Orchestra sinfonica nationale della Rai

C 680 062 I Mercadante, Saverio Il giuramento Zampieri, Baltsa, Domingo, Kerns; Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper; Gerd Albrecht

C 054 831 A Meyerbeer, Giacomo Gli amori di Teolinda Varady; Fadle; RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin; Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Gerd Albrecht

C 377 941 A Pettersson, Allan Symphonie No. 8 Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg; Gerd Albrecht

C 258 031 A Prokofjew, Sergej Eugen Onegin op. 71; Ägyptische Nächte op. 61 WDR Rundfunkchor Köln; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gerd Albrecht

C 768 093 D Puccini, Giacomo Il trittico Zschau, Lorengar, Ghazarian, Meyer, Bruson, Atlantow, Berry, Ramiro; Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper; Gerd Albrecht

C 209 901 A Reger, Max Orchesterlieder Fischer-Dieskau; St. Michaelis-Chor Hamburg; Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg; Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg; Gerd Albrecht

C 364 941 B Schoeck, Othmar Penthesilea Dernesch, Marsh, Gessendorf, Lipovšek, Sima, Adam, Hiestermann, Weber; ORFChor; RSO Wien; Gerd Albrecht

C 584 022 I Schreker, Franz Die Gezeichneten Riegel, Martin, Becht, Adam, Meven; ORF-Chor; RSO Wien; Gerd Albrecht

C 371 961 A Schubert/Mahler; Beethoven/Weingartner Streichquartett "Der Tod und das Mädchen"; Große Fuge (Orchesterfassungen) Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg; Gerd Albrecht

C 056 021 A Schulhoff, Erwin Der Bürger als Edelmann (Suite); Landschaften op. 26; Menschheit op. 28 Soffel; Rische; DSO Berlin; Gerd Albrecht

C 289 932 H Schumann, Robert Genoveva Faulkner, Behle, Titus, Lewis, Stamm, Tilli, Schultz; Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper; Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg; Gerd Albrecht

C 240 912 H Spohr, Louis Jessonda Varady, Behle, Moser, Moll, Fischer-Dieskau; Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper; Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg; Gerd Albrecht

C 137 862 H Spontini, Gaspare Olympie Varady, Toczyska, Tagliavini, Fischer-Dieskau; RIAS Kammerchor; Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Gerd Albrecht

C 366 951 A Ullmann, Victor Klavierkonzert op. 25; Don Quixote tanzt Fandango; Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornet Christoph Rilke Ardašev; Pluhar; Tschechische Philharmonie; Gerd Albrecht

C 419 981 A Ullmann, Victor Der zerbrochene Krug op. 36; Slawische Rhapsodie op. 23 für Saxophon und Orchester Barainsky, Breedt, Dewald, Künzli, Hermann, Prein; Kelly; DSO Berlin; Gerd Albrecht

C 286141 Weinberger, Jaromir Böhmische Lieder und Tänze, Ouvertüre zu einem ritterlichen Spiel, Passacaglia für Orgel und großes Orchester DSO Berlin

C 136 012 H Wellesz, Egon Die Bakchantinnen Alexander, Barainsky, Breedt, Aschenbach, Mohr, Burt, Stamm; Rundfunkchor Berlin; DSO Berlin; Gerd Albrecht

C 478 981 A Wellesz, Egon Violinkonzert op. 84; Prosperos Beschwörung op. 53 Duka Löwenstein; RSO Wien; Gerd Albrecht