Joachim Kaiser

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Joachim Kaiser, 2007

Joachim Kaiser (18 December 1928 − 11 May 2017) was a German music, literature and theatre critic . Since 1959 he worked as a senior editor in the feuilleton of the Süddeutsche Zeitung; from 1977 to 1996 he was professor for history of music at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart.

Life[]

Born in Milken, East Prussia (Miłki, Poland), Kaiser was born in 1928 as the son of a country doctor. At the age of eight he began to play the piano. Playing music together with his family was one of the happiest moments in his life. Literature and music began to interest him at an early age. After the flight and expulsion of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe 1945-1950, he attended the Wilhelm-Gymnasium (Hamburg). He then studied musicology, German studies, philosophy and sociology at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main and the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. Among his fellow students were the musicologists Carl Dahlhaus and Rudolf Stephan.

In June 1951 Kaiser began his journalistic career as a theatre, literature and music critic. His path was paved by a review of a publication by Theodor W. Adorno: Music and Catastrophe. About the "Philosophy of New Music". Adorno recommended Kaiser Alfred Andersch of the Hessischer Rundfunk, which in turn drew the attention of the Frankfurter Hefte. Mathias Döpfner described him as "the best known and most successful Adorno students ever".^[1] At the invitation of Hans Werner Richter, Kaiser was allowed to take part in events of Group 47 from 1953. In 1958 he was awarded a doctorate in German Studies at the University of Tübingen on the subject of Franz Grillparzer's dramatic style. On the initiative of the then SZ journalist Erich Kuby, Kaiser was able to work in the cultural editorial department of the Süddeutsche Zeitung from 1959. He was a member of the writers' association PEN-Zentrum Deutschland.

Kaiser, along with Marcel Reich-Ranicki, was one of the most influential critics of Germany. His book Große Pianisten in unserer Zeit^[2] is occasionally referred to as the "Piano Michelin". Besides groundbreaking pianists such as Artur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Sviatoslav Richter and Friedrich Gulda he introduced young interpreters and explained developments in the art of piano playing. ^[3]

Kaiser felt a special connection to the work of Richard Wagner and supported and accompanied the new beginning of the Bayreuth Festival in 1951 under the direction of Wagner's grandchildren, Wieland and Wolfgang.

Kaiser was married to the translator and novelist Susanne Kaiser since December 1958,^[4] with whom he had two children: the director Henriette Kaiser^[5] and the sports editor Philipp Kaiser. His domicile was in Munich on the edge of the Englischer Garten.^[6]

In 2009 he handed over his extensive private archive to the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach as a Nachlass. Besides letters from Theodor W. Adorno and Alfred Andersch, it contains correspondence with Ingeborg Bachmann, Ernst Bloch and Heinrich Böll.^[7] From May 2009 onwards, Kaiser answered readers' questions weekly in his video column Kaiser's Classic Customer on the website of SZ-Magazin. Due to an illness he had to give this up in January 2011. The series has not been continued since.^[8]

Kaiser died in Munich at the age of 88.

Work[]

• Kleines Theatertagebuch.^[9] Rowohlt, Reinbek 1965 (with preface: Kritik als Beruf).
• Große Pianisten in unserer Zeit. Piper Verlag, Munich 1965; New edition 1996, ISBN 3-492-22376-1.
• Beethovens 32 Klaviersonaten und ihre Interpreten. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1975, ISBN 3-10-038601-9.
• Erlebte Musik. Von Bach bis Stravinsky.^[10] Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-455-08942-9.
• Erlebte Musik. Teil 2. Von Wagner bis Zimmermann.^[11] DTV, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-423-01787-2.
• Mein Name ist Sarastro. Die Gestalten in Mozart's Meisteropern von Alfonso bis Zerlina.^[12] Piper, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-492-02818-7.
• Wie ich sie sah … und wie sie waren – Zwölf kleine Porträts. List, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-471-77969-8.
• Erlebte Literatur. Deutsche Schriftsteller in unserer Zeit.^[13] Piper, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-492-03048-3.
• Leben mit Wagner. Knaus, Munich 1990; New edition: Siedler, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-8275-0028-1.
• „Vieles ist auf Erden zu thun.“ Imaginäre Gespräche (…).^[14] Piper, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-492-03490-X.
• Was mir wichtig ist.^[15] Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-421-05056-2.
• Kaisers Klassik. 100 Meisterwerke der Musik. Schneekluth, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-7951-1425-X.
• Kaisers Klassik. Da Capo. Schneekluth, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-7951-1732-1.
• Von Wagner bis Walser. Neues zu Literatur und Musik.^[16] Pendo, Zürich 1999, ISBN 3-85842-358-0.
• "Ich bin der letzte Mohikaner".^[17] (autobiography, with Henriette Kaiser). Ullstein, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-550-08697-7.

Catalogue of works

• Gesa Anssar,  [de],  [de]: Kaiser-Verzeichnis. Allitera, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-86520-019-2.

Lecture series[]

Kaiser's many years of lecturing activity at the Gasteig in Munich include his extensive series of lectures on specific artists and art forms, especially on the subject of music:

• About Ludwig van Beethoven in the 1970s; in Munich (Gymnasium Fürstenried, 60 lectures)
• About Mozart's operas; in the 1990s in Vaterstetten
• About Richard Wagner; i Munich Gasteig (Carl Orff-Hall), from 1989 to 11 May 1993 (63 lectures)
• About Symphony and Sonata between Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler
• The secret of great string quartet - Beethoven and Schubert as creators of classical chamber music works; at the Gasteig in Munich; the series was transferred to "The great late works", from September 18, 2007 to November 16, 2010.

From 11 October 1994 to 17 July 2007 Kaiser gave 206 lectures, a total of 322. With 170,000 listeners, Kaiser's lectures are the most successful event to date of the  [de].

Radio series[]

In weekly radio broadcasts (one hour long, for example "Kaisers Corner" in Bayern4-Klassik), he dealt with Chopin for half a year and with "Beethoven - Werk und Wirkung" for a whole year. In addition to this, there were regular word broadcasts, such as "Kaiser's Magazine Show".

Films[]

• Der letzte Kaiser. TV-Feature, 2008, 5:25 Min., Buch: Peter Gerhardt, Produktion: Hessischer Rundfunk,  [de], First broadcast: 16 November 2008.
• Musik im Fahrtwind. Dokumentarfilm, 2006, 87 Min., Written and directed by Henriette Kaiser, Production: Lemuel Film, First broadcast: 5 November 2006, Bayerischer Rundfunk
• Der Klassik-Kaiser. Dokumentarfilm, 1997, Buch und Regie: Eckhart Schmidt, Production: Raphaela Film GmbH
• In the film Bruckners Entscheidung (1995) by Jan Schmidt-Garre Kaiser played the role of Richard Wagner.

Awards[]

• 1966: Theodor Wolff Prize
• 1993: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1. Class
• 1993: Ludwig-Börne-Prize awarded for the first time
• 1997:  [de]
• 2001:  [de]
• 2004:  [de] for critics
• 2009:  [de]
• 2010: Theodor-Wolff-Preis, for his life's work^[18]
• 2013: Distinction of the  [de], for his life's work^[19]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joachim Kaiser.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Joachim Kaiser

• Literature by and about Joachim Kaiser in the German National Library catalogue
• AudioVideo: Folge 10, über Bach bzw. Beethoven (Goldberg- bzw. Diabelli-Variationen) auf YouTube

Interviews

• "Ich weiß, dass ich sterben muss. Und zwar relativ bald". In Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 12 December 2008, Nr.50, Interview in nine little parts
• "Ich habe nichts gegen Dackel". In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 24 October 2005

Obituaries

• Langjähriger Feuilletonchef und SZ-Kritiker Joachim Kaiser ist tot. In the Süddeutsche Zeitung, 11 May 2017
• tagesspiegel.de: Meinungshäuptling der deutschen Kulturnation
• FAZ.net: Vom Genie eines ergriffenen Begreifers
• welt.de / Manuel Brug: Er war der Florist im Garten der Prosa