Hans-Wilhelm Kufferath

Hans-Wilhelm Kufferath (born September 11, 1939 in Oldenburg ; † May 3, 2016 in Bremen ) was a German cellist .

Life

Hans-Wilhelm Kufferath was born as the son of Hans Kufferath and grandson of Wilhelm Kufferath , who both worked as solo cellists at the Grand Ducal Court Theater and the State Theater in Oldenburg . The Kufferath family had produced numerous musicians in Germany and Belgium since the 19th century, including the soprano Antonia Kufferath (1857–1939), the violoncellist Elisa Kufferath (1875–?), The composers Johann Hermann Kufferath (1797–1864), Louis Kufferath (1811–1882) and Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath (1818–1896) as well as the musician and music critic Maurice Kufferath (1852–1919).

Hans-Wilhelm Kufferath began playing the cello at the age of 13, first studying in Bremen with Paul Zingel and then in Saarbrücken in the master class of Maurice Gendron (1920–1990). In 1964 he became principal cellist in Wilhelmshaven , only to succeed his father at the Oldenburg State Theater a year later. From 1969 to 2004 he was principal cellist in the Bremen Philharmonic State Orchestra (today: Bremer Philharmoniker ). He was a member of the "Kupczyk Quartet" founded by Franz-Josef Kupczyk , which with Josef Bayerlein (2nd violin) and Rainer Hoffmann (viola) played an important role in Bremen's cultural life and was also active internationally. In 1978, Kufferath founded “Chamber Music on Sunday Mornings”, which took place at the Packhaus Theater in Bremen for 27 years with over 200 concerts .

From 1970 on, Kufferath taught at the University of the Arts in Bremen, where he also temporarily directed the university orchestra. In 1971 he was called to the Green Hill in Bayreuth. He was a member of the festival orchestra for over 30 years and worked with conductors such as Carlos Kleiber , Georg Solti , James Levine and Daniel Barenboim .

In 2004 he took over the leadership of the New Chamber Orchestra Bremen . During a concert that Hans-Wilhelm Kufferath conducted with this orchestra on May 1, 2016, he suffered a heart attack , which he succumbed to two days later.

His daughter Juliane Kufferath (born 1968) is a painter . His niece Elisabeth Kufferath (born 1969) is a violinist and professor at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media .

literature

Freia Hoffmann : His life ended in the middle of the music , the daily newspaper May 14, 2016.

Web links

"'The soul in every note' On the death of Hans-Wilhelm Kufferath"

Individual evidence

↑ Anne-Marie Riessauw: Kufferath, German (later Belgian) family of musicians . In: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . 2nd Edition. tape 14 . Macmillan Publishers, London / New York 2002, ISBN 0-333-60800-3 , pp. 1 f .

personal data
SURNAME	Kufferath, Hans-Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German cellist
DATE OF BIRTH	September 11, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH	Oldenburg
DATE OF DEATH	May 3, 2016
Place of death	Bremen

[1] Anne-Marie Riessauw: Kufferath, German (later Belgian) family of musicians . In: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . 2nd Edition. tape 14 . Macmillan Publishers, London / New York 2002, ISBN 0-333-60800-3 , pp. 1 f .