RIP: Conductor Georges Pretre dies at 92
Georges Prêtre, the charming "Maestro con brio" dies at 92
He is not a conductor, he is "an interpreter," stressed Georges Prêtre. For many years he has also decided to decide the Viennese musical life. He died in Paris at the age of 92.
He was the monsieur 100,000 volts of classical music. Whoever wanted to know what the congress term "con brio" means, had only to hear how the famous first bars of the Fifth Beethoven sounded under his direction. Music as a necessity, inevitable, that was Georges Prêtres maxim. He never compromised. When he was standing at the desk, everything had to dance to his pipe without any opposition.
It was not easy to negotiate with Georges Prêtre. With his intransigence, he has driven directors of the white heat, but also tamed Primadonnen. The Primadonna assoluta above all: Maria Callas categorized him as her "chief préféré". And the world was amazed: the egomaniac and the egomaniac? That should go well? This went well, for both notorious stubbornness should always lead to a single goal: to implement the will of the composer as precisely as possible. Then they met; Without having to communicate much with each other. And then the stubbornness lifted one another.
It was so simple.
On the level of common love for and common service on the musical cause, the hotspur was the most charming man in the world. Unforgotten for the rehearsal, the moment when, inspired by the Viennese symphonists, he exclaimed in the beginning of the lyrical side-theme in the first movement of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony: "lucky" - this music never sounded so soft and warm. . .
Music as an exciting adventure
Beethoven, Bruckner? The music world has tried to reduce the performer to the French repertoire, because in the recording studio he has predominantly realized music of his homeland. Most of the works that are considered to be of paramount importance, not least because composers were fascinated and highly satisfied by the results: "Bénit soit le jour qui a vu naître Georges Prêtre" (blessed the day when Georges Prêtre was born), Francis Poulenc noted The premiere of his "Voix humaine".
But the conductor also used his fanatical expression in the Italian or German repertoire. A more disturbing mourning march from the "god dusk" will hardly be found. And hardly an "Eroica" sounds so militant, so martial, then again so sensitive and - in the final - so bacchantically. It can be assumed that Connaisseurs have already begun with the hunt for livemitschnitte because of lack of studio recordings. They will keep up the Prêtres for a long time; As the live experiences of Whistlers have always proved that there is an exciting life next to the all-world classic-mainstream.
Life itself writes even the most curious stories: Georges Prêtre, begotten by two adventurous teenagers literally on a "mechanical piano with a coin insert", has become the most colorful bird of the world over the Parisian Conservatoire and the Parisian jazz scene against all the adversities of the poorerest north- International classical business. It was he who directed the farewell performance of the old New York Met and the opening of the new one, which gave the first act at the Opéra Bastille in Paris and twice fulfilled the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic with a very special esprit.
Georges Prêtre - apropos Vienna - also succeeded in becoming one of the very few conductors of philharmonic and symphonic orchestras to be accepted at the same time and to animate both to the highest standards. He never wanted to be a boss anywhere, for he was everywhere he appeared at the desk. Automatically, by virtue of his irresistible charism. In October, the artist was once again to be seen in the Vienna Musikverein. At last, the energetic man always trusted his friends to be a bit tired. On Wednesday Georges Prêtre died 92 years.
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