Beethoven: Overture to Egmont | Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus Orchestra

Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus Orchestra have an eventful history: The
conductor played a key role in the mass demonstrations of the "peaceful
revolution" that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the GDR. On
October 9, 1989, more than 70,000 GDR citizens protested for more democracy
and freedom – on the same evening, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by
Kurt Masur, played a concert in Leipzig's St. Nicholas Church.

Exactly 20 years later, the orchestra under the direction of the German
conductor commemorates the historic event with an anniversary concert in the
very same St. Nicholas Church. They will also play the overture to Egmont (op.
84) by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is the first part of a dramatic score to the drama
"Egmont" by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which Beethoven
wrote on the occasion of a production in 1810 commissioned by the Vienna
Burgtheater. The overture became very famous and is often performed
separately from the rest of this piece of music.

Kurt Masur was born in Lower Silesia in 1927 and was Gewandhaus‘ music
director in Leipzig from 1970 to 1996. During this time he gave more than 900
touring concerts with the Orchestra. In addition to his artistic work, he is best
remembered for his political involvement during the "peaceful revolution" in
Leipzig, where he used his position as music director of Gewandhaus to warn
against violence. Kurt Masur was subsequently music director of the New York
Philharmonic and chief conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra before
passing away in the USA in 2015.

© EuroArts Music International GmbH

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