Norddeutscher Rundfunk
NDR

Type	Broadcast radio, television and online
Country	Germany
Availability	Regional National International
Headquarters	Hamburg, Germany
Launch date	1924 1 January 1956[1]
Official website	www.ndr.de

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) (North German Broadcasting) is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. NDR is a member of the ARD consortium.

NDR studios[link]

NDR television buildings in Hamburg

Studios in Hamburg are split into two locations, both of them within the borough of Eimsbüttel: Television studios are located in the quarter of Lokstedt as the radio studios are located in the quarter of Rotherbaum, a little closer to the city centre. In addition to these, there are further regional studios, also comprising both television and radio facilities. They are located in the state capitals Hanover, Kiel and Schwerin as well as at the ARD's national studios in Berlin. The NDR also maintains other regional offices within its four state territories.

Finances[link]

Licensing fees required for Radio and TV sets are €17.03 per month, as of 1 April 2005. For radio reception alone, the monthly fee is €5.52. These fees are not collected directly by the NDR but by the GEZ that is a common organisation of ARD, its members, ZDF and Deutschlandfunk.

Stations[link]

The NDR currently provides a number of services on its own or in co-operation with other broadcasters:

Television[link]

• ARD Das Erste — joint national channel
• NDR Fernsehen (formerly N3 and Norddeutsches Fernsehen) — third public service channel for the NDR area and Bremen, in co-operation with Radio Bremen.
• Phoenix — events channel produced by ARD and ZDF
• KI.KA — children's channel produced by ARD and ZDF
• Arte — Franco-German culture channel
• 3sat— cultural channel, co-produced by the ARD, ZDF, ORF, and SRG
• tagesschau24

Radio[link]

• NDR 90.3 — Local station for Hamburg, playing music for older listeners.
• NDR 1 Niedersachsen — Local station for Lower Saxony, run from Hanover with some regional opt-outs. Plays music for older listeners.
• NDR 1 Welle Nord — Local station for Schleswig-Holstein, run from Kiel with some regional opt-outs. Plays music for older listeners.
• NDR 1 Radio MV — Local station for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, run from Schwerin with some regional opt-outs. Plays music for older listeners.
• NDR 2 — Popular music station for middle-aged listeners. This is a commercial public service station.
• NDR Kultur — Arts and culture station. Plays classical music.
• NDR Info — News and information station.
• N-Joy — youth station.
• Nordwestradio — Cultural station for northwest Lower Saxony and Bremen, produced by Radio Bremen.

Musical organizations[link]

The NDR has four musical organizations, including two orchestras, a chorus and a "big band":

• NDR Sinfonieorchester — the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra; created in 1945 as the Symphony Orchestra of the NWDR and continued by the NDR under its current name since 1955. Principal conductors have included Günter Wand and John Eliot Gardiner.
• NDR Radiophilharmonie — the NDR Radio Philharmonic; created in 1950 as the Hanover Radio Orchestra of the NWDR and continued by the NDR under its current name since 1955. Principal conductors have included Willy Steiner and Bernhard Klee. The orchestra plays light classical or "concert hall" music.
• NDR Chor or Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks — created in 1946 by the NWDR and continued under its current name by the NDR since 1955. The choir specializes in "Alte Musik", but a broad repertory also includes contemporary music.
• NDR Bigband; created by the NWDR and continued by the NDR in 1955 as the NDR Studioband. Renamed NDR Bigband in 1971.

Transmitters[link]

FM, MW and TV[link]

• Hamburg Billwerder
• Hemmingen (for Hannover)
• Flensburg
• Kronshagen (for Kiel, no AM broadcasts currently)
• Lingen

FM and TV[link]

• Steinkimmen
• Torfhaus
• Zernien
• Osnabrück
• Aurich-Popens
• Göttingen
• Lauenburg
• Bungsberg
• Welmbüttel/Heide (Holstein)
• Sylt
• Visselhövede
• Cuxhaven
• Kronshagen (near Kiel)

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern[link]

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in the former East Germany, NDR programmes are broadcast from facilities owned by Media Broadcast GmbH, a former subsidiary of the Deutsche Telekom AG.

Other facilities[link]

• Wittmoor Measurement and Reception Station

History[link]

For 1924–1955 in detail, see Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk.

Pre-war[link]

In 1924 broadcasting began in Hamburg, when Norddeutsche Rundfunk AG (NORAG) was created. In 1934 it was incorporated into Großdeutschen Rundfunk, the national broadcaster controlled by Joseph Goebbels's Propagandaministerium, as Reichssender Hamburg.

In 1930, the Welte-Funk-Orgel, a theatre organ, was custom built for the NORAG to accommodate the specific accustic needs of radio broadcasts. It is still maintained by volunteers in the studio Rothenbaumchaussee 132, the oldest radio studio still in use.^[2]

Post-war[link]

In the British Zone of occupied Germany, the military authorities quickly established Radio Hamburg to provide information to the population of the area.

The British Control Commission appointed Hugh Greene to manage the creation of public service broadcasting in their Zone. On 22 September 1945, Radio Hamburg became Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, the single broadcasting organisation of the British Zone.

Länder control[link]

In 1948, the Control Commission transferred the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) to the control of the constituent Länder. At first, NWDR had just one radio station, later known as NWDR1. In 1950, it introduced a regional station for the north, NWDR Nord (later to become NDR2), and a regional station for the west, NWDR West (later WDR2).

That same year, NWDR became a founding member of ARD. The NWDR also played a founding role in launching 625-line television in Germany, starting broadcasts on 25 December 1952.

NWDR split[link]

In February 1955, North Rhine-Westphalia decided to establish its own broadcaster, whilst Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein continued with the existing system. To this end, the NWDR was split into two broadcasters, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in the north and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in North Rhine-Westphalia.

NDR continued to operate out of Hamburg. The split was effective from 1 January 1956, although the station NWDR1 remained a joint operation with regional opt-outs.

The NWDR television service also remained a joint operation, from 1 April 1956 under the name Nord- und Westdeutsche Rundfunkverband (North and West German Broadcasting Federation — NWRV). The NDR and the WDR launched separate television services for their area in 1961.

NDR history[link]

On 1 December 1956 the NDR started its third radio channel, NDR3 (from 1962 to 1973, this was a joint operation with Sender Freies Berlin).

In 1958 Han Koller became the musical director of Hamburg's NDR Jazz Workshop, which became a popular radio broadcast. Numerous names in Jazz performed on these broadcasts including; Kenny Clarke, Lucky Thompson, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster, Sahib Shihab, Carmell Jones, Lee Konitz, Cecil Payne, Slide Hampton, Phil Woods, Jazz Composers Orchestra, Howard Riley, Barry Guy, John Surman, the Kuhn Brothers and Barney Wilen. Some of these have been released since 1987, while the older ones only exist as rare bootlegs, sought after by many Jazz aficionados.

On 4 January 1965 the NDR, Radio Bremen and SFB began a joint "third channel" television service, Norddeutsches Fernsehen, later Nord 3 and N3. Since December 2001, this service is called NDR Fernsehen. SFB started a separate TV channel for Berlin in 1992, called B1, later SFB1, now RBB Fernsehen.

In 1977, Gerhard Stoltenberg, the minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein cancelled the NDR-Staatsvertrag, the governing body of the NDR onesided. This caused a discussion how to organise broadcasting in the North German region.

In 1980, the NDR signed a new convention with the three Länder, changing the pattern of broadcasting and creating new regional services. NDR1 was divided into three independent radio stations from 2 January 1981:

• NDR 1 Radio Niedersachsen (from 2002, NDR 1 Niedersachsen) for Lower Saxony
• NDR 1 Welle Nord for Schleswig-Holstein
• NDR Hamburg-Welle 90.3 (from 2 December 2001, NDR 90.3) for Hamburg

NDR2 and NDR3 (now NDR Kultur) continued as regional stations.

These regional services were further subdivided with opt-outs for specific areas. NDR 1 Niedersachsen established regions based around Oldenburg-Ostfriesland-Bremen-Cuxhaven, Osnabrück-Emsland, greater Hanover, Braunschweig-southern Lower Saxony and northern Lower Saxony. NDR 1 Welle Nord was subdivided with studio centres in Flensburg, Heide, Norderstedt, Lübeck and Kiel.

On 30 September 1988 the NDR introduced a teletext service on its N3 television channel. Originally called Nordtext, it became NDR Text on 2 December 2001. The teletext service also offers information for viewers in the Radio Bremen area under the title Radio Bremen Text.

On 1 April 1989, the NDR introduced its fourth radio service, NDR4. This service was later renamed NDR4 Info and from 2 June 2002 is now known as NDR Info. The station is a news and information service for the whole NDR region.

On 1 January 1992, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the former East Germany joined the NDR as the fourth state in the organisation. The area receives the main NDR radio and television stations, plus the regional NDR 1 Radio mV, which has subregions based in Schwerin, Rostock, Neubrandenburg and Greifswald. In October of the same year, SFB in Berlin stopped relaying the Nord 3 television service in favour of its own Berlin 1 TV channel.

On 4 April 1994, the NDR introduced N-Joy Radio (since 2001, just N-Joy), a young-persons radio station aimed at 14 to 29-year-old listeners.

On 3 October 1997, NDR3 was relaunched as Radio 3, produced in co-operation with Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg. At the end of 2000, SFB joined Radio 3. This arrangement lasted until ORB and SFB merged on 1 January 2003 and started their own classical and culture network. NDR3 became NDR Kultur on 1 January 2003.

On 1 November 2001, the NDR and Radio Bremen launched a joint radio station, Nordwestradio, to serve Bremen and northwestern Lower Saxony. This service replaced Radio Bremen 2 and control of the service remains with Radio Bremen.

As the organization responsible within the ARD consortium of German public-service broadcasters for overseeing the country's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, NDR staged the 56th annual contest which was held in Düsseldorf on 10–14 May 2011.

Directors[link]

• 1955–1961: Walter Hilpert
• 1961–1974: Gerhard Schröder
• 1974–1980: Martin Neuffer
• 1980–1987: Friedrich-Wilhelm Räuker
• 1987–1991: Peter Schiwy
• 1991–2008: Jobst Plog
• 2008–present: Lutz Marmor

See also[link]

• German television

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Norddeutscher Rundfunk

Hamburg portal

• (German) NDR Homepage

Photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937

Arthur Rubinstein (January 28, 1887 – December 20, 1982) was a Polish-American classical pianist who received international acclaim for his performances of the music written by a variety of composers; many regard him as the greatest Chopin interpreter of his time.^[1][2] He is widely considered one of the greatest classical pianists of the twentieth century.^[1]

Early life[link]

Rubinstein grew-up on Piotrkowska street, Łódź, Poland

Rubinstein was born in Łódź, Congress Poland (part of the Russian Empire for the entire time Rubinstein resided there) on January 28, 1887, to a family of assimilated Jews. He was the youngest of eight children,^[3] and his father was a wealthy factory owner.^[4]

Rubinstein's birth name was Artur Rubinstein, although in English-speaking countries, he preferred to be known as Arthur Rubinstein. However, his United States impresario Sol Hurok insisted he be billed as Artur, and records were released in the West under both versions of his name.^[5]

At the age of two, Rubinstein demonstrated perfect pitch and a fascination with the piano, watching his elder sister's piano lessons. By the age of four, he was recognised as a child prodigy. Rubinstein first studied piano in Warsaw. His early piano training came from Karl Heinrich Barth.

As a student of Barth, Rubinstein inherited a renowned pedagogical lineage: Barth was himself a pupil of Liszt, who had been taught by Czerny, who had in turn been a pupil of Beethoven. The Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, on hearing the four-year-old child play, was greatly impressed, and began to mentor the young prodigy. In 1894, at the age of 7, Rubinstein had his first public performance.^[6]

At the age of ten, Rubinstein moved to Berlin to continue his studies, and made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1900, at the age of 13.^[1]

Career[link]

In 1904, Rubinstein moved to Paris to launch his career in earnest, where he met the composers Maurice Ravel and Paul Dukas and the violinist Jacques Thibaud. He also played Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 in the presence of the composer. Through the family of Juliusz Wertheim (to whose understanding of Chopin's genius Rubinstein attributed his own inspiration in the works of that composer) he formed friendships with the violinist Paul Kochanski and composer Karol Szymanowski.^[7]

Rubinstein in 1906

Rubinstein made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1906, and thereafter toured the United States, Austria, Italy, and Russia. According to his own testimony and that of his son in François Reichenbach's film L'Amour de la vie (1969), he was not well-received in the United States. By 1908, Rubinstein, destitute and desperate, hounded by creditors, and threatened with being evicted from his Berlin hotel room, made a failed attempt to hang himself. Subsequently he said that he felt "reborn" and endowed with an unconditional love of life. In 1912, he made his London debut, and found a home there in the Edith Grove, Chelsea, musical salon of Paul and Muriel Draper, in company with Kochanski, Igor Stravinsky, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals, Pierre Monteux and others.^[7]

During World War I, Rubinstein stayed in London, giving recitals and accompanying the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. In 1916 and 1917, he made his first tours in Spain and South America where he was wildly acclaimed. It was during those tours that he developed a lifelong enthusiasm for the music of Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. He was the dedicatee of Villa-Lobos's Rudepoêma and Stravinsky's Trois mouvements de Petrouchka.

Rubinstein was disgusted by Germany's conduct during the war, and never played there again. His last performance in Germany was in 1914.^[7]

In the fall of 1919 Rubinstein toured the English Provinces with soprano Emma Calvé and tenor Vladimir Rosing.^[8]

In 1921 Rubinstein gave two American tours, travelling to New York with Karol Szymanowski and his close friend Paul Kochanski, who died in 1934. The autumn voyage was the occasion of Kochanski's permanent migration to the USA.^[7]

In 1932, the pianist, who stated he neglected his technique in his early years, relying instead on natural talent, withdrew from concert life for several months of intensive study and practice.

During World War II, Rubinstein's career became centered in the United States. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1946.

A cast of the pianist's hands, at the Łódź museum

Although best known as a recitalist and concerto soloist, Rubinstein was also considered an outstanding chamber musician, partnering with such luminaries as Henryk Szeryng, Jascha Heifetz, Pablo Casals, Gregor Piatigorsky, and the Guarneri Quartet. Rubinstein recorded much of the core piano repertoire, particularly that of the Romantic composers. At the time of his death, the New York Times in describing him wrote, "Chopin was his specialty . . . it was [as] a Chopinist that he was considered by many without peer".^[1] With the exception of the Études, he recorded most of the works of Chopin. ^[9] He was one of the earliest champions of the Spanish and South American composers and of French composers who, in the early twentieth century, were still considered "modern" such as Debussy and Ravel. In addition, Rubinstein was the first champion of the music of his compatriot Karol Szymanowski. Rubinstein, in conversation with Alexander Scriabin, named Brahms as his favorite composer, a response that enraged Scriabin.^[10]

Rubinstein, who was fluent in eight languages,^[11] held much of the repertoire, not simply that of the piano, in his formidable memory.^[11] According to his memoirs, he learned César Franck’s Symphonic Variations while on a train en route to the concert, without the benefit of a piano, practicing passages in his lap. Rubinstein described his memory as photographic, to the extent that he would visualize an errant coffee stain while recalling a score.^[12]

Rubinstein also had exceptionally developed aural abilities, which allowed him to play whole symphonies in his mind. "At breakfast, I might pass a Brahms symphony in my head" he said. "Then I am called to the phone, and half an hour later I find it's been going on all the time and I'm in the third movement." This ability was often tested by Rubinstein's friends, who would randomly pick extracts from opera and symphonic scores and ask him to play them from memory.^[1]

By the mid-1970s, Rubinstein's eyesight had begun to deteriorate. He retired from the stage at age eighty-nine in May 1976, giving his last concert at London's Wigmore Hall, where he had first played nearly seventy years before.

Personal life[link]

Rubinstein in 1963

Family[link]

Of his youth, Rubinstein once said: "It is said of me that when I was young I divided my time impartially among wine, women and song. I deny this categorically. Ninety percent of my interests were women."^[1] At the age of forty-five, in 1932, Rubinstein married Nela Młynarska, a twenty-four-year-old Polish ballerina (who had studied with Mary Wigman). Nela was the daughter of the Polish conductor Emil Młynarski and his wife Anna Hrynewicz, who was from a Lithuanian aristocratic family. Nela had first fallen in love with Rubinstein when she was eighteen, but when Rubinstein began an affair with an Italian princess she married Mieczysław Munz.^[13][14] Nela subsequently divorced Munz and three years later married Rubinstein.^[14] They had five children (one died in infancy), including daughter Eva, who married William Sloane Coffin, and son John Rubinstein, a Tony Award-winning actor and father of actor Michael Weston.^[15] Nela subsequently authored Nela's Cookbook, which included the dishes she prepared for the couple's legendary parties.^[16]

Both before and during his marriage, Rubinstein carried on a series of affairs with women, including Irene Curzon. In 1977, at age 90, he left his wife for the young Annabelle Whitestone, though he and Nela never divorced. Rubinstein also fathered a daughter with a South American woman,^[6] and he may have been the father of Muriel Draper's son, Sanders, who perished in World War II.^[6]

Jewish affiliation[link]

While he was an agnostic, Rubinstein was nevertheless proud of his Jewish heritage.^[17] He was a great friend of Israel,^[18] which he visited several times with his wife and children, giving concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, recitals, and master classes at the Jerusalem Music Centre.

Polish affinity[link]

Throughout his life, Rubinstein was deeply attached to Poland. At the inauguration of the UN in 1945, Rubinstein showed his Polish patriotism at a concert for the delegates. He began the concert by stating his deep disappointment that the conference did not have a delegation from Poland. Rubinstein later described becoming overwhelmed by a blind fury and angrily pointing out to the public the absence of the Polish flag. He then sat down at the piano and played the Polish national anthem loudly and slowly, repeating the final part in a great thunderous forte. When he had finished, the public rose to their feet and gave him a great ovation.^[19]

On practice[link]

Rubinstein believed that a foremost danger for young pianists is to practice too much. Rubinstein regularly advised that young pianists should practice no more than three hours a day. "I was born very, very lazy and I don't always practice very long," he said, "but I must say, in my defense, that it is not so good, in a musical way, to overpractice. When you do, the music seems to come out of your pocket. If you play with a feeling of 'Oh, I know this,' you play without that little drop of fresh blood that is necessary – and the audience feels it." Of his own practice methods, he said, "At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different."^[1][20]

Pupils[link]

Rubinstein was reluctant to teach in his earlier life, refusing to accept William Kapell's request for lessons. It was not until the late 1950s that he accepted his first student Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak. Other students of Rubinstein include François-René Duchâble, Avi Schönfeld, Ann Schein Carlyss, Eugen Indjic, Dean Kramer, and Marc Laforêt. Rubinstein also gave master classes towards the end of his life.^[21]

Death and legacy[link]

Rubinstein died in his sleep at his home in Geneva, Switzerland, on 20 December 1982, at the age of ninety-five, and his body was cremated.^[1] On the first anniversary of his death, an urn holding his ashes was buried in Jerusalem — as specified in his will — in a dedicated plot now dubbed "Rubinstein Forest" overlooking the Jerusalem Forest. This was arranged with Israel's chief rabbis so that the main forest wouldn't fall under religious laws governing cemeteries.^[23]

In October 2007, his family donated to the Juilliard School an extensive collection of original manuscripts, manuscript copies and published editions that had been seized by the Germans during World War II from his Paris residence. Seventy-one items were returned to his four children, marking the first time that Jewish property kept in the Berlin State Library was returned to the legal heirs.^[24]

In 1974, Jan Jacob Bistritzky established the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, held every three years in Israel, intended to promote the careers of young and outstanding pianists. The Arthur Rubinstein Award and other prizes are presented to the winners. The Rubinstein Competition also commissions works by Israeli composers.^[25]

Recordings[link]

In 1910, Rubinstein recorded Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 for the Polish Favorit label.^[6] The pianist was displeased with the acoustic recording process, saying it made the piano sound "like a banjo" and did not record again until the advent of electrical recording. However, Rubinstein made numerous player piano music rolls for the Aeolian Duo-Art system and the American Piano Company (AMPICO) in the 1920s.

Beginning in 1928, Rubinstein began to record extensively for RCA Victor, making a large number of solo, concerto and chamber music recordings until his retirement in 1976. As recording technology improved, from 78-rpm discs to LPs and stereophonic recordings, Rubinstein re-recorded much of his repertoire. All of his RCA recordings have been released on compact disc and amount to about 107 hours of music.

Rubinstein preferred to record in the studio, and during his lifetime approved for release only about three hours of live recordings. However, since the pianist’s death, several labels have issued live recordings taken from radio broadcasts.

Honors[link]

Sculpture of Arthur Rubinstein on Piotrkowska Street, in Łódź, Poland, where Rubinstein once lived

• Sonning Award (1971; Denmark)
• On April 1, 1976, Arthur Rubinstein was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford.
• In 1977, he was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).^[26]
• Grand Officier of the Legion of Honour.
• Kennedy Center Honors (1978)
• Officer's Cross (Krzyż Oficerski) of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
• Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
• Member of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise.
• Officier of the Order of Leopold of Belgium.
• Voted into Gramophone's Hall of Fame in 2012.^[27]

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

• Pierre Fournier, Arthur Rubinstein & Henryk Szeryng for Schubert: Trios Nos. 1 in B-flat, Op. 99 and 2 in E-flat, Op. 100 (Piano Trios) (Grammy Awards of 1976)
• Pierre Fournier, Arthur Rubinstein & Henryk Szeryng for Brahms: Trios (Complete)/Schumann: Trio No. 1 in D Minor (Grammy Awards of 1975)

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra):

• Arthur Rubinstein for 'Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat/Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 (Grammy Awards of 1978)
• Arthur Rubinstein for Beethoven: Sonatas No. 21 in C (Waldstein) and No. 18 in E-flat (Grammy Awards of 1960)

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1994)

Bibliography[link]

• Rubinstein, Arthur (1973). My Young Years. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-46890-2. 
• Rubinstein, Arthur (1980). My Many Years. New York: New York. ISBN 0-394-42253-8. 

See also[link]

• List of Polish people (music)
• Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arthur Rubinstein

• Arthur Rubinstein at Allmusic
• Arthur Rubinstein profile at PBS American Masters
• (Italian) Arthur Rubinstein Musical Association – Italy
• Homage to Arthur Rubinstein (Fansite)
• The Arthur Rubinstein International Competition
• The Presidency Project – Remarks Upon Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Arthur Rubinstein.