RAFAEL KUBELÍK

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18 ENGLISH adequately, but his decision was probably prompted by the fact that he was being criticised for his longer periods of absence from New York and somewhat unorganised style of leadership – and last but not least, health reasons finally tipped the scales. Kubelík had been suffering with gout for some time and his arthritis was getting worse and worse. He decided to spend the colder months in his winter residence in Palm Springs (the hot, dry desert climate would at least slow down the progress of his illness) and live the rest of the year near Lucerne with his second wife; he had married the Australian soprano Elsie Morison in 1963. When he reached retiring age in 1979, Kubelík wanted to step down as director of the Bayerische Rundfunk symphony orchestra – his arthritis was making conducting an ordeal – but his designated successor Kiril Kondrashin died unexpectedly and Kubelík remained in office until he was replaced by Sir Colin Davis in 1983. His last concert in Munich was as guest conductor in the summer of 1985. He had to break off the performance of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony after the Scherzo when he suddenly felt unwell; he decided never to conduct again but political events had other plans in store for him. The memorable and moving concert given in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic – Kubelík returned to conduct Smetana after forty-one years in exile – was broadcast live on both radio and T.V. “I don’t conduct in public anymore but I couldn’t live without composing, just as I couldn’t conduct without composing.” Several of the most important 20 th century conductors were also composers (Leonard Bernstein was perhaps the most famous) and there are numerous historical role models, such as Mozart, Mendelssohn and Mahler for example. Kubelík’s works are not mere pieces of music director music but played a central role in his understanding of himself as an artist; Kubelík himself called his works “his own private language”. As opposed to his life’s work as a conductor, which has been well documented by his recordings, his compositions remain almost unknown. It comes as no surprise that his early works, written in the 1930s, were influenced by working together with his violinist father: these works included a violin sonata, a fantasia for violin and orchestra and a violin concerto. During the 1940s he added piano and chamber music works, lieder and further solo concertos with orchestra to his works – works written in the 1950s included two masses and the opera Tagesanbruch (1958). During Kubelík’s period in Munich he wrote more operas (such as Cornelia Faroli about the life of Tizian – the work was composed in 1966 and enjoyed its premiere performance in 1972, on the occasion of the Olympic Games held in Munich). In many of his works, from all the different genres, Kubelík devoted himself to the final things in life, dealing with religiousness and death’s close proximity. His style could perhaps best be described as late expressionistic, and composers like Mahler, Bartók, Janáček and Schönberg have all left their mark. Kubelík’s is a music that reflects and analyses the 20 th century but unlike the second Viennese school,
which at some point risked venturing into atonality, Kubelík’s music always stayed true to tonality – this tonality is dealt with freely however, so that it avoids becoming a binding reference frame, while still floating and changing. ENGLISH 19 Rafael Kubelík is considered one of the greatest conductors of the second half of the 20 th century. His human awareness and personal integrity was reflected throughout his career in his conducting art. He died on 11 August 1996 in Lucerne after a long illness. Following his death, the president at the time, Václav Havel, expressed his veneration: “I have always admired Rafael Kubelík greatly, not only because of his services to Czech music but also because of his exceptional standing as a human being and patriot.”
Seite 1 und 2: RAFAEL KUBELÍK Portrait
Seite 3 und 4: Vol 2
Seite 5 und 6: Vol 3 Vol 4
Seite 7 und 8: hinzufügen - und er hatte Recht!
Seite 9 und 10: vielgespielten Stücken verleiht Ku
Seite 11 und 12: das eine Vorliebe für Mahler, Jan
Seite 13 und 14: ENGLISH 13 Rafael jeronÝm Kubelík
Seite 15 und 16: unlike many of his fellow countryme
Seite 17: Kubelík’s work peaked with the M

RAFAEL KUBELÍK

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