Fürst "was a modest and generous person, in spite of his many obligations. He was driven by a passion for teaching and this was coupled with huge intelligence. His approach to teaching was philosophical rather than pragmatic...The musicians at the Marseille Opera used to say that with him it was the golden age," musical director of the Les Siecles chamber orchestra Francois-Xavier Roth, who worked with Fürst in Paris for two years, told the paper.
Fürst was a passionate man, but with a sensitive and refined conducting style, Le Monde wrote.
Fürst last appeared in France on June 21, 2006, conducting the National Orchestra of Ile-de-France in Saint Denis near Paris.
Born in Budapest in 1935, Fürst studied violin at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, then continued at the Conservatoire de Paris.
Fürst left Hungary in 1956 and worked for several years in Scandinavia and the UK as a musical director. He was the first guest conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra for many years.
He established the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 1963, and from 1972, he started working with some of the world's most important orchestras in London. He conducted in Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
Starting in the 1980s, he served as musical director of the Marseille Opera for nine years, and between 1997 and 2000, he was a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
