Mt. Fuji Climb Deadly For Orchestra Member

Georg Straka, a contrabassist for the Vienna Philharmonic, died after a fall while climbing Mt. Fuji Nov. 3 with management staff of the orchestra, which was in the midst of a Japan tour.

The party left their Tokyo hotel early in the morning for the climb and made it up to the “eighth stage” (the Mt. Fuji trail is divided into 10 stages), where the 41-year-old musician slipped and fell some 300 meters, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

A police rescue team brought Straka to the nearest hospital where he was declared dead several hours later.

Zubin Mehta, who is the tour’s conductor, participated in a special memorial service at Suntory Hall, where the orchestra is performing in Tokyo.

The Vienna Philharmonic also performed the Funeral March from Beethoven’s Third Symphony in honor of Straka, who had been a member of the orchestra since 1999.