Efrem Kurtz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Efrem Kurtz (November 7, 1900 – June 27, 1995) was a conductor.

He was born in St. Petersburg in Russia and studied at the conservatoire there under Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Tcherepnin among others. He later studied in Riga and Berlin.

Kurtz' conducting debut came when he stood in at the last minute for an ill Arthur Nikisch to accompany the dancer Isadora Duncan. This led to a number of concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1924 to 1933 he conducted the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 1928, Kurtz was enagaged by Anna Pavlova to accompany her dancing, which he did until her death in 1931. From 1932 to 1942 he was conductor of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, touring with them extensively.

Kurtz later moved to the United States of America, and became a citizen of that country in 1944. He directed the Kansas City Philharmonic from 1943 to 1948 and the Houston Symphony Orchestra from 1948 to 1954. He also conducted a number of film scores, including Jacques Ibert's score for Orson Welles' Macbeth.

From 1955 to 1957, Kurtz was director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra jointly with John Pritchard. Thereafter he took a number of guest conducting posts, including enegagements with orchestras in Leningrad and Moscow back in his native Russia (which by now was part of the USSR) where he returned for the first time in 1966.

Kurtz was the husband of flautist Elaine Shaffer. He was married to Mary Lynch Kurtz at the time of his death in London.

His recorded repertoire included works by among others Dmitri Shostakovich (early recordings, though not premieres, of several of the symphonies and the Age of Gold ballet suite), Ernest Bloch (one of whose last works, Two Last Poems (Maybe...) was dedicated to Elaine Shaffer), Heitor Villa-Lobos (his Uirapuru), many of these recordings made in the 1940s and 1950s with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Preceded by Ernst Hoffman	Music Directors, Houston Symphony Orchestra 1948—1954	Succeeded by Ferenc Fricsay
Preceded by Hugo Rignold	Principal Conductors, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 1955–1957	Succeeded by John Pritchard