TODAY 96 OR 92 YEARS AGO Kurt-Heinz Stolze was born in Hamburg. His exact year of birth is unclear. According to his personnel file at the Württemberg State Theatres, he was born in 1930. In several newspaper articles, 1926 was mentioned as his year of birth. Stolze was John Cranko's closest musical advisor and became well-known in particular for his musical arrangements for Cranko’s masterpieces Onegin and The Taming of the Shrew. After studying piano, organ and conducting, he was engaged as music director at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. In 1957 he joined the music staff of the State Theatre Stuttgart, where he focussed on music for ballet and worked closely with John Cranko. He arranged Vivaldi's concert cycle for Cranko's L'estro Armonico and composed the music for Cranko’s Wir reisen nach Jerusalem ... In 1965, Stolze arranged and orchestrated the score for Cranko's Onegin based on various motifs from Tchaikovsky's complete works, thereby contributing to the world-wide success of the piece. Four years later he orchestrated and arranged the music for another Cranko classic, The Taming of the Shrew, based on Domenico Scarlatti. He also conducted numerous ballets and worked in radio and film. He passed away in Munich on August 12th, 1970.

Photo: The score of Onegin, © Roman Novitzky