Günter Opitz

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Günther Opitz (born March 2, 1928 in Lucka ; † September 21, 2016 in Leipzig ) was a German horn player , chamber virtuoso .

Life

At the age of ten, Opitz began to learn the violin . In 1942 he began to study music at the municipal orchestra school in Glauchau (Saxony). There he got to know other instruments and decided on the French horn . His horn teacher was Kurt Haubenreißer (Chemnitz).

After the war ended, his career led him to the theater orchestras Zeitz (1946), Altenburg (1946/47), Halle / Saale (1947/48), Erfurt (1948/49) and Magdeburg (1949–1959). He then became principal horn at the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra , where he held this position until he was 65.

Opitz taught for seven years at the Georg-Philipp-Telemann Music School in Magdeburg and for four years at the "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" University of Music and Theater in Leipzig .

In addition to his work in the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and his teaching activities, he gave concerts with the Leipzig Horn Quartet , which he directed for 32 years and with which he produced many radio recordings:

  • 1959 to 1966 together with Waldemar Markus, Siegfried Gizyki and Kurt Janetzky ,
  • 1966 to 1988 with Waldemar Markus, Siegfried Gizyki and Dieter Reinhardt,
  • 1988 to 1990 with Johannes Winkler, Siegfried Gizyki and Dieter Reinhardt as well
  • 1990 to 1991 with Johannes Winkler, Jens-Uwe Weiß and Dieter Reinhardt.

The composers who composed for the horn quartet include Helmut Schachmann, Carlernst Ortwein , Fred Malige , Josef Bönisch (4 works), Claus Creuznacher (5 works), Jürgen Dietze, Friedbert Groß (4 works), Theodorus Hlouschek, Albert Kolnhofer, Dieter Nowka , Friedrich Schenker , Jiri Simek, Helmuth Schneider, Gerd Schlotter, Graham Whettam, Jan Koetsier (3 works).

Günter Opitz received the Leipzig City Art Prize in 1983 with the Leipzig Horn Quartet .

Recordings

  • 1969: Benjamin Britten, Serenade op. 31 with Peter Schreier (tenor), Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Herbert Kegel
  • 1983: Music for French horns 1
  • 1985/86: Music for French horns 2 (Telemann, Haydn, Lütgen, Friedbert Groß Four pieces for horn quartet , Graham Whettam quartet for four horns )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.lvz-trauer.de/trauerbeispiel/gunther-opitz/48175959 Obituaries
  2. ↑ www.leipziger-hornquartett.de/History accessed on May 27, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Opitz, Günter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Opitz, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German horn player, chamber virtuoso
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucka
DATE OF DEATH September 21, 2016
Place of death Leipzig