Kurt Masur, former chief conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, London Philharonic and New York Philharmonic has died at his home in Connecticut: he was 88. Born in Brieg in Germany (now Poland), Masur studied the piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig. One of his first conducting appointments was at the helm of the Dresden Philharmonic (1955-58, again 1967-72). In 1970 he was named Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig, a post he held until 1996. 

In 1991, he took over as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from Zubin Mehta and over the next 10 years galvanised the orchestra, raising standards and giving it back the style it had enjoyed under conductors like Leonard Bernstein. He left the NYPO in 2002 allegedly following disagreements with the orchestra’s Executive Director Deborah Borda. In 2000 he also became Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic, serving until 2008. After leaving the NYPO, he became Music Director of the Orchestre National de France, his last appointment. He was also Honorary Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, a post named for him for life.

His repertoire was remarkably broad and he maintained an impeccable commitment to new music which he programmed with all his ensembles.

Masur achieved considerable international attention, and acclaim, when, in 1989, he stepped in and secured an end to a stand-off between protesters and the Communist forces in East Germany, inviting both sides into the Gewandhaus to debate the situation. As a result he was named as a possible canditate for the country’s presidency.

Masur recorded primarily for Philips with some projects with EMI, for much of the Gewandhausorchester period, taping much of the core symphonic literature (including two Beethoven cycles, the Brahms, the Tchaikovsky, the Mendelssohn as well as less often-encountered works like the symphonies of Max Bruch and complete tone-poems of Liszt). He also recorded for Teldec - his 1992 set of Mendelssohn’s Elijah (sung in German) and made with an international line-up of soloists the Leipzig Radio Choir and the Israel Philharmonic won him a Gramophone Award and praise from Alan Blyth who commented that ‘chorus and conductor seem to have struck up an ideal rapport with the Israel Philharmonic, on home ground here in every sense. They play with verve allied to a technical skill capable of keeping up with Masur's exigent demands. In consequence, sections, (especially in Part 2) that can seem weak or uninspired in other hands, here have a dynamic, driving force that carries all before it. The contribution of all these three elements can be recommended without reservation. Masur also gains credit for choosing soloists rather than the choir as demanded by Mendelssohn for the trios, quartets and double quartets.’ He also conducted for another Gramophone Award-winning recording, Jessye Norman's classic account of Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs.