Musicians - Gerd Albrecht

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	Musicians - Gerd Albrecht

Gerd Albrecht (born July 19, 1935) is a German conductor. He has held a wide variety of conducting jobs in Germany and in 1975, in addition to his existing position as Principal Conductor of the Berlin Deutsche Opera in Berlin, he became the Principal Conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich in Switzerland, where he succeeded Rudolf Kempe.

Czech Philharmonic controversy

In 1991, Albrecht was chosen by the musicians to be principal conductor (from 1994) of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra had played a part in protesting the Soviet domination of their country and reorganized as a self-governing entity. Their selection of Albrecht effectively meant replacing Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek, who then resigned early, in 1992. Consequently, by the time that he took up the post, the orchestra was already somewhat riven. Albrecht proved effective in improving the Czech Philharmonic's finances and at raising its international profile with foreign tours. He is also acknowledged to have been a musical success. However a series of political conflicts led to his early resignation.

In 1994 the Czech Philharmonic was invited to perform at the Vatican in a concert celebrating reconciliation between Roman Catholics and Jews. However, the invitation was to play under the American conductor Gilbert Levine, already known for his close relationship with the Vatican under Pope John Paul II and subsequently for the widely-telecast “Papal Concert to Commemorate the Holocaust”. Albrecht vetoed the engagement, ostensibly because the orchestra was too busy. However many suspected that the real reason for the refusal was Albrecht's jealousy at not being invited to conduct the concert himself.

Czech president Václav Havel became involved, telling Albrecht that his actions were damaging the orchestra. The situation steadily deteriorated, with Albrecht painting himself in press interviews as a victim of racism and anti-German feeling and for being expected personally to atone for all past German misdeeds. He also claimed that his phone was bugged. Havel retaliated in the media with his own claims. Albrecht and Bělohlávek collaborated for the 100th anniversary concert, each conducting half of it, on January 4, 1996, but Havel was conspicuously absent and members of the orchestra showed their allegiances when the time came for applause. Albrecht resigned from this post a month later asserting that his musical authority had been undermined. He has since conducted in Japan and Denmark.

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