Kurt Adler (March 1, 1907 – September 21, 1977) was an Austrian and American conductor, chorusmaster, author and pianist. He was best known as the chorus master and lead conductor of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York City from 1943 to 1973. He conducted orchestras in Europe, North America, Canada and Mexico.

Early life

Kurt Adler was born in

Jindřichův Hradec Jindřichův Hradec (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urb ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now the Czech Republic) to a bourgeois Jewish family. He was the only child of Siegfried Adler (born 1876), a textile factory owner, and Olga (Fürth) Adler (born 1882).From the Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc., New York Press Bureau Artist's Questionnaire, Nov. 13, 1945 Both parents were murdered by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

during World War II, after they were deported in 1942, from Vienna, Austria, to Izbica concentration camp, which served as a transfer camp, to the Bełżec extermination camp in occupied Poland on May 15, 1942. His paternal grandparents, Jakob and Eveline Adler are buried in Neuhaus (now Jindřichův Hradec), Hebrew Cemetery.Václav Urban
''Kurt Adler (1907 Neuhaus – 1977 New York)''
1st ed., Jindřichův Hradec and Kostelní Radouň, 2007, pp. 11–13, His maternal grandparents, Albert and Katherine Fürth are buried in

Sušice Sušice (; ) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban mon ...

, Czech Republic. During the 1930s many now-famous musicians, including Adler, emigrated to the United States to escape from

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. Adler left for the United States on October 9, 1938. He sailed from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, Holland in 1938 on the "SS Statendam".United States of America Declaration of Intention and Petition for Naturalization, National Archives and Records Administration, Northeastern Region, New York, New York He was

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

on March 21, 1944. ''One of the Props.'' Opera News, January 25, 1969, p. 27

Education

Kurt Adler began studying music at age six under cantor Jacob Fürnberg, in Jindřichův Hradec His first public appearance was at age fourteen. His entire musical education was in Vienna, Austria. Among his teachers were Richard Robert, Fanny Boehm-Kramer, Alexander Manhart (1875–1936) (piano);

Karl Weigl Karl Ignaz Weigl (6 February 1881 – 11 August 1949) was a History of the Jews in Austria, Jewish Austrian composer and pianist, who later became a Naturalization, naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Weigl was born in Vienna, ...

(1881–1949), Guido Adler (1855–1941), Wilhelm Fischer (1886–1962) (theory); Ferdinand Foll (1867–1929), Hermann Weigert (1890–1955), and Erich Kleiber (1890–1956) (conducting). In 1925, he graduated from the classical Akademisches Gymnasium, Vienna. In 1927, he earned a degree in musicology from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, corresponding to Master of Arts, Philosophical Faculty of the University of Vienna.

Career

Kurt Adler began his professional career in Germany on the musical staff of the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

. He later conducted at the New German Theatre in Prague and Städtische Oper in Berlin. He joined the

in 1943, under the management of Edward Johnson, then in conjunction with

Rudolf Bing Sir Rudolf Bing, KBE (January 9, 1902 – September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born British opera impresario who worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, including as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City f ...

, from 1945 to 1973. Maestro Adler's press announcement upon his recruitment as chorusmaster of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City said, "That since Giulio Setti's time, ten years ago, there never has been a single chorusmaster for the entire Italian, French, German, English repertoire and with my appointment, the gradual reorganization and training will again be centralized in one hand."From the Metropolitan Opera Association Press Announcement, New York, New York, Nov. 13, 1945

Engagements

* 1927–1929 Assistant conductor,

* 1929–1932 Conductor, Prague German Opera Theater * 1932–1933 Conductor, Berlin Municipal Opera House * 1933–1938 Conducting symphony concerts and opera all over Europe * 1933 Conductor of orchestral concerts, Vienna Grosser Musikvereinssaal * 1933 Founder of the Unio Opera Company, Vienna * 1933–1935 First Conductor, Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of the USSR,

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

* 1935–1937 Founder, Musical Director, and first conductor of the

Symphonic Orchestra Stalingrad A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

(

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) * 1938–1943 U.S.A. Conducting concerts and concertizing as pianist all over U.S. and Canada * 1938–1939 Pianist, three transcontinental tours of the United States * 1939–1941 Musical Director, Friendship House, New York City * 1943 Assistant Conductor to

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

, Metropolitan Opera, New York City * 1943–1973 Chorus Master, Conductor, Metropolitan Opera, New York City, New York (USA) * 1944–1947 Musical Director, Opera Nacional and Opera de Mexico, Mexico City * 1952 Musical Director, Central City Opera Festival, Central City, Colorado * 1954 Musical Director of opera performances at Greek Theatre, Hollywood, California * Conductor of numerous broadcasts and television performances of operatic and symphonic music

Teaching positions

* 1929–1932 Organizer and Conductor of the Students Orchestra of the German Academy of Music (''Deutsche Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Prag''), Prague,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

* 1934–1935 Conductor, orchestra of the Kyiv Conservatory of Music, Kyiv (Soviet Union) * 1935–1937 Professor of the Opera class at the Conservatory of Music,

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

(Soviet Union) * 1938–1941 Teacher of piano, theory; classes in chamber music; coach; New York City

Publications

* 1943 Adler, K.: ''Songs of many wars, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.'' New York, Howell, Soskin 1943, 221p. Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler. (A collection of fighting songs which oppressed people of all times and nation have sung in their fight against tyranny.) * 1953–1956 Adler, K.: ''Operatic anthology: celebrated arias selected from operas by old and modern composers, in five volumes / compiled by Kurt Adler.'' New York, G. Schirmer c1953–1956. Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler. * 1955 Adler, K.: ''Famous operatic choruses.'' New York, G. Schirmer c1955, Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler. * 1956 Adler, K.: ''The Prima donna‘s album: 42 celebrated arias from famous operas.'' New York, G. Schirmer c1956, Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler. * 1960 Adler, K.: ''Songs From Light Operas for soprano.'' New York, G. Schirmer 1960, Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler. * 1965 Adler, K.: ''The art of accompanying and coaching.'' Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press 1965. * 1967Adler, K.: ''Phonetics and diction in singing: Italian, French, Spanish, German.'' Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press 1967. * 1968 Adler, K.: ''Duets from the great operas, for soprano and baritone.'' New York, G. Schirmer 1968, Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler. * 1968 Adler, K.: ''Duets from the great operas, for soprano and tenor.'' New York, G. Schirmer, Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler. * 1971 Adler, K.: ''The art of accompanying and coaching.'' New York, Da Capo Press * 1974 Adler, K.: ''Phonetics and diction in singing: Italian, French, Spanish, German.'' Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2nd ed. * 1975–1977 Adler, K.: ''Operatic anthology: celebrated arias selected from operas by old and modern composers, in five volumes / Edited and arranged by Kurt Adler.'' Rochester, N.Y., National Braille Association 1975–1977. * 1976 Adler, K.: ''The art of accompanying and coaching.'' New York, Da Capo Press * 1980 Adler, K.: ''The art of accompanying and coaching.'' New York, Da Capo Press * 1985 Adler, K.: ''The art of accompanying and coaching.'' New York, Da Capo Press

Personal life

On March 10, 1948, Adler married Irene Hawthorne (1917–1986) (birth name Irene McNutt), former

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancers ...

soloist of the

. On September 16, 1965, Adler married Christiane Tocco, which produced a daughter, Eveline (Eva). On September 21, 1977, Adler died at home in his sleep, in Butler, New Jersey, of

uremia Uremia is the condition of having high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess in the blood of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, which ...

/chronic

glomerulonephritis Glomerulonephritis (GN) is a term used to refer to several kidney diseases (usually affecting both kidneys). Many of the diseases are characterised by inflammation either of the glomeruli or of the small blood vessels in the kidneys, hence the ...

.Staff
"Kurt Adler, 70, Conductor Of 20 Different Operas At Met During 22 Years"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', September 22, 1977. Accessed July 2, 2011. "Kurt Adler, opera conductor and chorusmaster of the, Metropolitan Opera from 1945 through 1973, died yesterday after a long illness. He was 70 years old and lived in Butler, N.J." His instruments were the piano, organ, harmonica, harpsichord, and

celesta The celesta () or celeste (), also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music ...

. Adler is a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, able to speak a multitude of languages.

Bibliography

* 2009 Václav Urban: ''Kurt Adler. Ein leben für die Musik.'' Aus dem Tschechischen übertragen, herausgegeben und mit Ergänzungen versehen von Hana Pfalzová. ConBrio Verlagsgesellschaft, Regensburg 2009. (104 p.) * 2007 Václav Urban
''Kurt Adler (1907 Neuhaus – 1977 New York)''
1. vyd., Jindřichův Hradec, Kostelní Radouň, 2007, 140 p., * 2000 ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Centennial Edition.'' New York: Schirmer Reference, 2000, p. 21, (set), (vol. 1) * 1997 Rudolf M. Wlaschek: ''Biographia Judaica Bohemiae'', 2 vol., Dortmund: Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa, 1997, 75 S., * 1995 Walter Pass, Gerhard Scheit, Wilhelm Svoboda: ''Orpheus im Exil – Die Vertreibung der österreichischen Musik von 1938 bis 1945'', Wien: Verlag fur Gesellschaftskritik, 1995, 409 p., * 1989 Alain Pâris: ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interprétation musicale au XXe siècle'', Paris:

Éditions Robert Laffont Éditions Robert Laffont () is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by (1916–2010). Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium. Imprints belonging to Édit ...

, 1989. 906 p., * 1982 John L. Holmes: ''Conductors on record'', London: Victor Gollancz, 1982, 734 p., * 1979 ''Index to music necrology: supplement to the 1977 necrology'', Notes (Music Library Association), 1979, * 1978 "Kurt Adler – obituary", in: ''Opera News'', Feb 4, 1978, p. 30 * 1976 Paul Frank, Burchard Bulling, Florian Noetzel, Helmut Rosner: ''Kurzgefasstes Tonkünstler Lexikon – Zweiter Teil: Ergänzungen und Erweiterungen seit 1937'', 15. Aufl., Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, volume 1: A-K. 1974. ; Bvolume 2: L-Z. 1976. * 1969 ''One of the props'', in: Opera News, Jan 25, 1969, p. 26–27 * 1951 J.T.H. Mize: ''The international who is who in music'', Fifth (Mid-Century) Edition, Chicago: Who is Who in Music, 1951.

References

External links

Czech home page of Kurt Adler

E-book about Kurt Adler in Czech
(

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, 29 MB)
Place a picture of Adler's grandparents tomb stone in Neuhaus, Czech Republic

Multi-field search – Adler, Kurt
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Search – Adler, Siegfried and Adler, Olga

Search – Adler, Siegfried and Adler, Olga {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Kurt 1907 births 1977 deaths Classical accompanists American classical pianists American male classical pianists American male conductors (music) Austrian conductors (music) Austrian male conductors (music) Austrian Jews Conductors of the Metropolitan Opera Czech conductors (music) Czech Jews Jewish American classical musicians Jewish classical pianists Music directors (opera) People from Jindřichův Hradec People from Butler, New Jersey Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States 20th-century Austrian classical pianists American philatelists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews