Horenstein, Jascha

(b Kiev, 24 April/6 May 1899; d London, 2 April 1973). Russian-Austrian conductor, naturalized American. He left Russia for Konigsberg at the age of six and studied there with Max Brode. In 1911 he moved to Vienna (his mother was Austrian), where he studied philosophy at the university, the violin with Adolf Busch and, from 1917, music theory with Joseph Marx and composition with Schreker at the Music Academy. In 1920 he followed Schreker to Berlin, where he conducted choral societies, and became assistant to Furtwangler. His orchestral debut was with the Vienna SO in 1923. After guest appearances with the Berlin PO and the Bluthner Orchestra he became conductor of the Berlin SO in 1925. In 1928 he became chief conductor and later director of music at the Dusseldorf Opera, where his repertory included Wozzeck, given in 1930 under Berg's supervision. Horenstein remained at Dusseldorf until the Nazis forced him to leave in 1933. For some years he led a wandering existence, conducting in France, Belgium, Poland, the USSR, Australia and New Zealand (1937), Scandinavia (with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, 1937) and Palestine (1938).
 

He went to the USA in 1940, conducting the New York PO and other orchestras in both the Americas; subsequently he took American citizenship. After the war, his widespread activity included some notable concert performances of modern operas: in this way he introduced Wozzeck (1950) and Janacek's From the House of the Dead (1951) to Paris, and Busoni's Doktor Faust to the USA (American Opera Society, 1964). He conducted at the Stadtische (later Deutsche) Oper in West Berlin and at Covent Garden (Fidelio in 1961 and Parsifal shortly before his death in 1973). During the last years of his life he lived in Lausanne.

Although he disliked being labelled a specialist, Horenstein was an admired interpreter of Bruckner and Mahler. The programme of his Viennese debut included Mahler's First Symphony; his performance of the Eighth with the LSO in 1959 (Royal Albert Hall) remains a landmark in the recognition of Mahler in Britain. To this composer's music Horenstein brought sharp intensity and burning clarity. He started making recordings in the late 1920s, and his gramophone repertory (which included early recordings of Bruckner and Mahler) reveals a versatility he did not always have the opportunity to show in the concert hall.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Blyth: 'Jascha Horenstein talks to Alan Blyth', Gramophone, xlviii (1970--71), 768 only
R. Osborne: ' Horenstein and Mahler: a Conversation', Records and Recording, xiv/3 (1970--71), 44 only
J. Diether: ' The Recorded Legacy of Jascha Horenstein', High Fidelity/Musical America, xxiii/10 (1973), 76--81, 83 only [with discography]
J. Lazar: 'Horenstein at Work', High Fidelity/Musical America, xxiii/10 (1973), 82 only
D. Barber: The Horenstein Legacy: a Discography (n.p., 1995)
 

RONALD CRICHTON/R