MUSIClassical ALLEGRO
Topic: NEWS performers
For over three decades, Kurt Masur was both one of the world's best classical-music conductors and the most prominent one from communist East Germany. But perhaps his finest hour came on the political stage in 1989. Masur was born on July 18, 1927 in what is now the city of Brzeg in Poland. The son of an engineer, he taught himself piano as a young child and quickly specialized in conducting -- despite suffering from a nervous stutter.
