Schuricht, Carl

Conductor

born: 03.07.1880 in Danzig

died: 07.01.1967 in Corseaux-sur-Vevey (Switzerland)

The son of a master organ builder and an oratorio singer, he moved to Wiesbaden with his mother, who was widowed at an early age, in 1893. Here he attended the Königliches Realgymnasium and received his first conducting lessons from Franz Mannstaedt.

During his studies at the Musikhochschule Berlin, he worked as a répétiteur at the Mainz State Theater. Due to health problems, Schuricht took a break for several years before accepting the position of conductor at the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra in 1906. This was followed by positions in Zwickau, Bad Kreuznach and Frankfurt am Main. In 1912 he was appointed municipal music director in Wiesbaden. Appointed General Music Director in 1922, he held this position until 1944. He led the Kurorchester and from 1913-37, with interruptions, the Cäcilienverein. His work increased Wiesbaden's national reputation as a city of music. From 1933, guest conducting engagements took him to Vienna, Berlin and Stuttgart. In 1935, he conducted the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra in a festive concert of the SS-Standarte 13 on the occasion of the birthday of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. Schuricht also conducted concerts for the benefit of "Kraft durch Freude" and the Winterhilfswerk.

In September 1933, Carl Schuricht separated from his third wife, who was persecuted for being Jewish and subsequently went into exile. As the separation was not complete in the eyes of the Nazi authorities, Schuricht was not engaged for the Wiesbaden festival concert in honor of Adolf Hitler in 1935. In the summer of 1944, he was added to the Reich Ministry of Propaganda's list of so-called godsend performers. At the end of the year, the conductor emigrated to Switzerland.

His interpretations focused on the symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler ("Symphony of a Thousand" 1913, "Gustav Mahler Week" 1920 and 1921). He also introduced Wiesbaden to Arnold Schönberg's "Gurre-Lieder" and Frederick Delius' "Eine Messe des Lebens". In works by Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Brahms and Schumann, he impressed audiences with his "penchant for a highly spiritual interpretation". Schuricht was in demand as a guest conductor in Europe and overseas. He performed for the organization "Strength through Joy" and in the occupied territories.

After 1945, he worked mainly with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of the Süddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart. In 1953, he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Wiesbaden. In 1973, a street where he had lived was named after him. In the Kurhaus Wiesbaden, the "Carl Schuricht" salon and a memorial in front of the Christian Zais Hall commemorate the conductor

His urn was buried in the North Cemetery.

[This text was compiled by Wolfgang Jung in 2012 for the printed version of the Wiesbaden city encyclopaedia and supplemented by Dr. Katherine Lukat in 2023]