Medicus:Heinrich Adolf Medicus (*1918)
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'''Partner:''' ∞ Hildegard Julie Schmelz (*1928) | '''Partner:''' ∞ Hildegard Julie Schmelz (*1928) | ||
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| + | '''ASO patron Heinrich Medicus to be honored''' | ||
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| + | By JOSEPH DALTON, Special to the Times Union | ||
| + | First published in print: Sunday, June 6, 2010 | ||
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| + | About eight years ago, Heinrich Medicus approached David Allan Miller, music director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, with a suggestion. It was a springtime evening on Second Street in downtown Troy, and the maestro had just given a talk at the Rensselaer County Historical Society. Miller was walking with a small crowd of symphony patrons over to the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, where a concert would soon begin. | ||
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| + | "He ran up to me and said that we needed to have a better caliber of soloists performing with the orchestra," recalls Miller. "I said 'Well, Heinrich we'd love that but those big stars can cost $40,000 a night or more.'?" | ||
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| + | A retired RPI physics professor, Medicus and his wife Hildegard (who died in 2008) had been ASO subscribers for decades and were known to Miller as modest but regular donors. Medicus ended that brief exchange by offering his vague intention to help out. | ||
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| + | According to Miller, a stunning check arrived at the ASO offices within about a month from Switzerland, Medicus' homeland, where he still visits regularly. His gift -- the amount of which he prefers not to reveal -- remains the largest single donation from an individual in the symphony's history and made possible several seasons of star appearances, including those of violinists Joshua Bell and Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. | ||
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| + | Soon Medicus was invited to join the symphony board and became a part of Miller's "kitchen cabinet" of local musical advisers. During the January 2008 concert that marked Joshua Bell's debut with the Albany Symphony, Miller thanked Medicus for his generosity from the stage of the Palace Theatre. | ||
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| + | Among those who show up for classical music concerts regularly, not just when the big soloists roll into town, Medicus has long been known as dedicated listener and quiet but generous patron. In acknowledgement of his support for the entire local music scene, the Troy Chromatics have made him honorary committee chairman for their annual benefit, to be held Saturday, June 19, at the Emma Willard School. (See box for details.) | ||
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| + | During a recent conversation at his apartment in a Troy retirement center, Medicus, 91, looked back on some highlights of a life in academia and the arts. "My English is still not very good," admits Medicus. But his enthusiasms and accomplishments are clear. | ||
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| + | Medicus earned his doctorate in physics at the same Zurich university where his father taught philosophy. He arrived in the U.S. in 1950 for a post-doc fellowship at Stanford and came to the East Coast a year later for further research at M.I.T. In 1955, he joined the faculty of R.P.I., where he served for 31 years and co-authored a well-received textbook. | ||
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| + | A connoisseur of wine and spirits, as well as music and sculpture, Medicus says that a 1987 Wall Street Journal headline dubbed him, "The guy you don't want to invite for New Year's Eve." The story was just one of dozens across the country prompted by his attempt to break the world record for the longest flight of a champagne cork. | ||
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| + | A couple of R.P.I. colleagues, looking for some publicity for the institute, approached him with the idea because it would combine his knowledge of wine and his study of energetic pressure -- as well as a taste for adventure. | ||
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| + | A first attempt failed at a mere 95 feet, some 10 feet short of the Guinness Book record. But on June 5, 1988, Medicus left that record in the dust, achieving a distance of 177 feet, 9 inches. | ||
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| + | It's a record that still holds and Medicus proudly displays a framed photo of the event. His champagne bottle is mounted at a 45-degree angle and he can be seen wearing protective garments, including heavy gloves and full headgear, borrowed from the laboratories at R.P.I. "I was afraid the bottle would explode," he says. It was vigorously shaken, by the way, but not artificially heated. That's the rules. | ||
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| + | Medicus' wherewithal to support the arts and other causes comes down from his family in Switzerland, in particular an uncle who was an industrialist. Through the Swiss Benevolent Society of New York, he's endowed an exchange program for students of his homeland to study in the U.S. | ||
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| + | Switzerland was also the connection that led Medicus to his first major underwriting for local music, which happened only in 1999. It was during the first season of Mass MoCA in North Adams, in support of a project by the Swiss-born "sound artist" Walter Fahndrich. With the installation "Music for a Quarry," loudspeakers are discreetly placed in a natural setting and give off subtle tones at sunset each night. | ||
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| + | It was an unlikely pairing given Medicus' taste. The old-fashioned romanticism of Joshua Bell is more to his liking. In fact, Medicus could actually be called a groupie of the American violinist, having heard him more than a dozen times in the U.S. and Europe. | ||
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| + | Asked if Bell is aware of his ardor, Medicus replies, "Oh yes, he knows Heinrich." | ||
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| + | Read more: [http://rsweb02.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=937515&category=LIFE&TextPage=2#ixzz1o6MRzGoE Heinrich Medicus honored] | ||
'''links:''' | '''links:''' | ||
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'''Quellen:''' | '''Quellen:''' | ||
| - | *[http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz59740.html Deutsche Bibliografie] | + | * [http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz59740.html Deutsche Bibliografie] |
| - | *[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=613 NDB ADB] | + | * [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016334/images/index.html?seite=613 NDB ADB] |
| + | * [http://rsweb02.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=937515&category=LIFE http://rsweb02.timesunion.com Heinrich Medicus to be honored] | ||
