Masur to undergo organ transplant
( 2001-09-25 10:48 ) (7 )

Conductor Kurt Masur is scheduled to undergo an organ transplant and will miss several performances in his final season as New York Philharmonic's music director.

Masur, 74, will have the procedure at a hospital in Europe in late November, Eric Latzky, a spokesman for the orchestra, told The Associated Press on Monday.

Latzky would not say which organ would be replaced, except to say it is not the heart. When asked if Masur had been ill, he said: "He's been dealing with some health concerns, but he has been with us and has maintained a very full schedule."

Masur's last performance with the Philharmonic before the transplant will be November 19. He is withdrawing from two weeks of subscription concerts in December and a New Year's Eve performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the Philharmonic said.

Substitute conductors will be announced soon, Latzky said.

Masur also withdrew from two weeks of concerts last year for an unspecified surgical procedure. His 11th and final season as the Philharmonic's musical director began Thursday with a nationally televised performance of Brahms' "German Requiem" in memory of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

He is scheduled to return to the Philharmonic on February 7 for a performance of "Tristan and Isolde," Latzky said. Masur is to be replaced at the end of the season by Lorin Maazel, 71-year-old director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich.

This season, the Philharmonic plans to issue a 10-box CD set of some of Masur's best performances, as well as other events to celebrate his tenure.