Richard Laugs

Richard Laugs (born March 10, 1907 in Hagen ; † June 13, 1978 in Mannheim ) was a German conductor, pianist and university professor.

Laugs was the son of the conductor Robert Laugs . After graduating from high school, he studied with Joseph Pembaur at the State University of Music, Academy of Music in Munich and with Artur Schnabel at the State Academic University of Music in Berlin. After his studies he went on concert tours as a pianist and was a répétiteur in Hanover and Berlin.

In 1929 Laugs received the Mendelssohn State Prize and in 1936, after a cycle of 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, the Music Prize of the City of Berlin.

In 1937 Laugs received the call to take over a master class for pianists at the Mannheim University of Music and Theater as the successor to Willy Rehberg . After the destruction of his apartment on Brucknerstrasse in Mannheim during the Second World War, Laugs moved to Heidelberg , where he saw the end of the war. Under the most difficult external circumstances, he played a decisive role in the reconstruction of the musical and cultural life of the destroyed Mannheim. From 1945 to 1951, Laugs was the chief conductor at the National Theater in Mannheim . In addition, he was commissioned to rebuild the Municipal University of Music and Theater , which was closed from 1945 to 1950 , and to take over its management. On April 1st, 1951 the reopening took place in house R 5.6, the former municipal hospital of Mannheim. Gradually, under the direction of Richard Laugs, all departments of the university were re-established and the spatial situation improved.

In 1955, Laugs was appointed professor by the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg.

At the end of the sixties, Laugs promoted the merger of the city music academies in Mannheim and Heidelberg. The efforts ended in December 1970 with the decision of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg to nationalize and unite the two universities. As director of the Mannheim training center, Laugs gave the welcoming speech at the ceremony on June 6, 1971 in the Knights' Hall of Mannheim Palace .

On October 17, 1971, on his retirement as rector of the university , Laugs received the Schiller plaque from the mayor of Mannheim, Hans Reschke , in recognition of his services to the cultural life of Mannheim. Laugs stayed at the university as a lecturer for piano and piano chamber music and continued his concert activity until 1977.

On May 23, 1975, Federal President Walter Scheel awarded Richard Laugs the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

On October 27, 1977, the rector of the then State University for Music Heidelberg-Mannheim (today: State University for Music and Performing Arts Mannheim ) appointed Hans-Helmut Schwarz, Richard Laugs an honorary member of the university.

Richard Laugs succumbed to cancer on June 13, 1978 in Mannheim. He was buried in the main cemetery in Mannheim (grave location: part III, field 2-D, grave 010).

As a pianist, Richard Laugs had a large repertoire that included the entire piano works of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Reger and Schumann. His playing is recorded on numerous long-playing records.

After his death, his widow Katja Laugs started the Richard Laugs Beethoven piano competition together with the Mannheim lawyer Claus Meissner in 2000 . Because of Mozart's relationship with Mannheim, it is now being continued as the Richard Laugs Mozart Piano Competition .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The building now houses the Institute for German Language (IDS) .

literature

• Kurt Heinz: Richard Laugs 1907–1978. The artist, the teacher, the person . Mannheim o J.
• Meyer, Herbert: The Nationaltheater Mannheim 1929–1979 . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim u. a. 1979, ISBN 3-411-01563-2 ; 978-3-411-01563-4.