Siegfried Matthus

Siegfried Matthus (13 April 1934 – 27 August 2021) was a German composer, conductor, and festival founder and manager. Some of his operas, such as Judith, were premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Berlin. In 1991, he founded the chamber opera festival Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg and directed it until 2018. In 2005, he composed a Te Deum for the reopening of the Dresden Frauenkirche. Matthus is considered one of Germany's most often performed contemporary composers.

Biography Matthus was born in (now in Ozyorsky District), East Prussia. His father made sure that the son received piano lessons. Matthus attended secondary school in Rheinsberg, followed by studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. After graduating, he continued his studies in composition with Rudolf Wagner-Régeny and Hanns Eisler, and was shortly thereafter made the youngest composer in residence in the history of the Komische Oper Berlin by Walter Felsenstein.

Stage works Matthus composed more than a dozen stage works. The opera Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (Cornet Christoph Rilke's song of love and death ) after Rainer Maria Rilke was completed in 1983, first performed in Dresden in 1985, and performed also by the Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1993. The opera Graf Mirabeau (1987–88) is set during the French Revolution. The opera was recorded by the Berlin State Opera. His works are featured on more than twenty recordings by several of Germany's leading symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles. His 1975 Cello Concerto and his Second Symphony were recorded in 1978 by cellist Josef Schwab and the orchestra of the Komische Oper, conducted by the composer. A reviewer described the works as "deeply honest, uncompromising though highly communicative". For the occasion of his 70th birthday in 2004, a recording combined three concertos with orchestra recorded earlier with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken: the 1982 Concerto for Trumpet and Percussion, the 1994 Manhattan Concerto, and Der Wald (The forest), a 1984 percussion concerto. On 25 January 2009, Leon Botstein conducted Responso at the Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, with the American Symphony Orchestra.

Festival In 1991, Matthus founded the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg festival. He was its artistic director until 2018. He was an honorary citizen of Rheinsberg. Matthus died in his home on 27 August 2021 at the age of 87 after a protracted illness.

Matthus composed more than 600 works.

Awards 1972 and 1984 National Prize of the GDR, 2nd class 1979 Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze 1984 honorary citizen of the city of Rheinsberg 1995/96 Prize of the International Theater Institute Berlin 1998 Prize of the Association of German Critics 2000 Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2007 Renaming of the new event hall in the port village of Rheinsberg to the "Siegfried-Matthus-Arena" 2014 Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany