Witiko Adler, longtime head of Berlin’s historic Hans Adler Concert Agency, has died at 97.

For decades he shaped Germany’s postwar classical scene, launching careers of stars like Barenboim and Mutter. Known for his discretion, humor, and devotion to music, he was a pillar of Berlin’s culture.

“His love of music spanned many decades of concert life in 20th-century Berlin,” wrote Senator for Culture Sarah Wedl-Wilson on the death of Witiko Adler. The former head of the long-established Hans Adler concert agency died at the age of 97, as the agency announced. With him, Berlin's musical life loses a figure who, like few others, shaped the post-war concert scene – as a bridge-builder between artists, orchestras, and audiences, between the brilliance of the old masters and the new generation.
When Witiko Adler wanted to take over the family business in 1948 after the early death of his father, Hans, he was only 20 years old – and had to be declared legally of age to be allowed to run the business. He had actually wanted to become an architect. But he chose music and built his parents' company into Berlin's most important private concert agency.

Reconstruction and artistic vision

After the war, Berlin was a field of ruins – especially culturally. Witiko Adler breathed new life into the scene: He lured established masters like pianist Alfred Cortot and conductor Otto Klemperer to the ruins of post-war Berlin, presented the 19-year-old Friedrich Gulda in 1950, soon took over as Yehudi Menuhin's German representative, and later organized Daniel Barenboim's piano recitals for decades.
Adler had contributed to Barenboim's career early on. "In 1963, he arranged my debut with the Berlin Philharmonic," Barenboim recalled upon his friend's death. "We were connected from then on. Witiko Adler was the epitome of professionalism and discretion. I will miss his ever-present refined presence and his dry Berlin humor."

The German debuts of many future international stars also bore Adler's signature. "My goal was both to bring back to Germany those great performers who had been driven out by the Nazis and to cultivate a new generation of artists," he once wrote. His agency facilitated the debuts of Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink, and Zubin Mehta.

A Broker of Great Careers

Witiko Adler was a man who moved with keen intuition and stoic calm between artists' careers and concert stages. In 1976, he arranged the meeting between Herbert von Karajan and the then 13-year-old Anne-Sophie Mutter—a meeting that made music history.

With his agency, Adler not only shaped careers but also forged connections. Together with his wife, Jutta Riedel, the daughter of a Berlin music dealer family, he ran the business with its old-fashioned charm. In 2018, the concert agency celebrated its 100th anniversary—with Federal President Steinmeier in the audience and an anniversary concert at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Several years ago, Witiko and Jutta Adler sold their agency to the MünchenMusik Group, but remained connected to it in an advisory capacity. Until his advanced age, Adler was in the office every day, attentively following concert schedules and funding projects, while maintaining the perspective of a cultivated pragmatist.

Witiko Adler is survived by his wife Jutta and two children. His name will remain inextricably linked to the history of Berlin's concert scene – as the epitome of professional discretion, as a witness to a bygone era.

Source: https://backstageclassical.com/witiko-adler/