Stockholm, Februar 2025
Dear Mr Matusek and Mrs Wöss,
I recently bought three books by maestro Kurt Wöss: Ich ritt auf Tennos Pferd, Als ich zu dirigieren vergass und Ratschläge für Bruckner (ich vorstehe und lese Deutsch aber spreche lieber Englisch). It brought back so many nice memories so I felt that I had to mail you about how much he meant to me as a young musician with conducting ambitions.
The first time I met with maestro Wöss was in Malmö 1980 when I was a young French horn player at the College of Music. We played Meistersinger ouverture, I have forgotten the second piece. The second half of the concert was Music by Johann Strauss. After the first day of rehearsals me and my horn colleague decided that we should invite this fascinating man to dinner. To our surprise he accepted but said “no wine I prefer beer!”
We had a wonderful evening where he told so many wonderful stories from his life and from the music world. Some of them are also mentioned in the books. The following days I got to speak to him about interpretation and conducting advise. I had an amateur ensemble at the time but hadn´t begun to study conducting on a regular basis. He came back to Malmö a couple of times (I was also a substitute horn player in Malmö Symphony orchestra) and I think I met him there as well? It was always such a joy speaking to him, he always took time listening to my questions. He was a great inspiration and I learnt a lot from him.
My conducting career began early. I got my first Kapellmeister job when I was 23 with Östgötamusiken in Linköping. From 1989-2017 I was the chief conductor of the Royal Army Band. Now I am Director Musices at The Royal Institute of Technology, where I am conducting the big Symphony Orchestra, and I also teach orchestra conducting at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm. In my career I have often used many of his quotes. And also referred to him for ideas about interpretation. It took many years after 1987 until I realized that he unexpectedly had passed away in Dresden.
His legacy is still alive.
Yours sincerely,
Mats Janhagen, February 2025
PS: Here is a clip from Youtube where I am conducting Kaiser-Walzer with my orchestra. When I rehearsed I made some remarks about the interpretation “This is how Kurt Wöss did it, and he got the information from Johann Strauss last concert master Prof. Benesch”! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Wkkjw5Ddg