Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Schauspielmusiken (Bernius) (Box mit 3 CDs)

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Prof. Dr. R. Larry Todd ist Arts & Sciences Professor of Music, Duke University, Durham. Bei Carus hat er zahlreiche Werke von Mendelssohn herausgegeben, darunter die Oratorien Elias, Paulus sowie Christus. Seine bei Carus in deutscher Sprache erschienene Mendelssohn-Biografie ist zumStandardwerk für Forschung und Mendelssohn-Fans geworden.

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The Kammerchor Stuttgart is regarded as one of the best ensembles of its kind. Over its fifty-year existence, Frieder Bernius has developed the choir into an exceptional ensemble acclaimed by audiences and press alike. This has led to invitations for the choir to perform at all the important European festivals. In Germany the chamber choir performs at festivals and in concert halls in repertoire ranging from the 17th to the 21st century. Frieder Bernius and his ensemble have received numerous accolades for their contribution to new music. The Kammerchor Stuttgart has made over 80 CDs and LPs, numerous of which have been awarded international recording prizes (including the Edison award, Diapason d’or, Gramophone Choice, Classical Internet Award, International Classical Music Award, and German Record Critics’ Award prizes). The International Federation for Choral Music has invited the ensemble to sing at the 1st, 4th and 10th World Symposia on Choral Music in Vienna, Sydney and Seoul. Regular tours of North America and Asia since 1988 and a South America tour reflect the Kammerchor Stuttgart’s international reputation. Since 1984 the top ensemble has also been invited to Israel biennially. Personal details

The Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart is comprised of musicians from leading German symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles who have been performing with Frieder Bernius over a long period. Although the orchestra uses modern instruments, the conductor and his players are particularly interested in stylistic distinctions. For performances of large-scale choral works, the Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart is the orchestral pendant to the Kammerchor Stuttgart. The orchestra has participated in a variety of events, including the Rheingau Music Festival, Stuttgart European Musikfest, Baden-Württemberg International Festival, Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wroc³aw (Poland), the Kassel Music Festival, the Philharmonic Society of Brussels and the Herbstliche Musiktage Bad Urach. The idea of creating an orchestral partner of equal quality to the Kammerchor Stuttgart has been vindicated not least by their joint recording of Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem. The French periodical Répertoire has confirmed Frieder Bernius’s vision of the work as a “discographic knockout.” Personal details

The Hofkapelle Stuttgart, founded in 2006 by Frieder Bernius to complement the Barockorchester Stuttgart, concentrates on repertoire from the 19th century performed on authentic instruments. One of its main focusses is the rediscovery of music-historical treasures, particularly works from the south-west German region (by composers such as Kalliwoda, Knecht and Holzbauer). The Hofkapelle and Barockorchester Stuttgart regularly perform at international festivals (Rome, Salzburg, Göttingen, Dresden, etc.). CDs made by both groups have received many awards: the Missa Dei Patris by Jan Dismas Zelenka was nominated for the Cannes Classical Award, and the Incidental Music to Shakespeare’s Ein Sommernachtstraum [A Midsummer Night’s Dream] by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was featured by Rondo magazine and awarded the Star of the Month prize by Fono Forum magazine. Mozart’s Requiem received the Diapason d’or de l’année 2003, Johann Gottlieb Naumann’s opera Aci e Galatea was named opera recording of the year in Opernwelt magazine and Bach’s Easter Oratorio included in the Quarterly Critics’ Choice of the German Record Critics’ Award. The group’s recording of Bach’s B Minor Mass was Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine. Personal details

Frieder Bernius’s work has earned great worldwide recognition. He is in demand internationally as a conductor and as a teacher. His principal artistic collaborators are the ensembles he founded himself, the Kammerchor Stuttgart, the Barockorchester Stuttgart, the Hofkapelle Stuttgart and the Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart. As a guest conductor, he has collaborated repeatedly with, for example, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and the Streicherakademie Bozen. Great stylistic versatility is Frieder Bernius’s hallmark. Whether he conducts vocal works by Monteverdi, Bach, Händel, Mozart, Beethoven, Fauré and Ligeti, stage music by Mendelssohn or symphonies by Haydn, Burgmüller and Schubert, his work always aims for a sound that is at once unmistakably personal and at the same time oriented towards the original period sound ideal. He devotes himself equally to the rediscovery of 18th century operas and to first performances of contemporary compositions. He is particularly interested in the musical history of southwestern Germany. Carus-Verlag has awarded Frieder Bernius a Golden CD for his complete recording of the sacred music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The award was presented to him during the German Choir Festival in Stuttgart 2016. The sale of over 250,000 recordings, which has been acclaimed with a number of awards, has made a not insignificant contribution to what today is the obvious presence of Mendelssohn's complete œuvre in the concert repertoire. Personal details

German soprano Sibylla Rubens studied singing (concert and opera) both at the State University of Music in Trossingen and in Frankfurt/Main. The moving timbre of her voice, her natural charisma and the sensitive sense of perfection that she applies to her extensive repertoire make Sibylla Rubens a much sought-after artist in Germany and abroad. She performs regularly with such conductors as Frieder Bernius, Riccardo Chailly, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Philippe Herreweghe, Kent Nagano, Helmuth Rilling, or Christian Thielemann. Sibylla Rubens is known to be an exceptionell lied singer and is regularly invited to the European lied centres. More than 80 recordings are proof of her artistic achievements. She has passionately dedicated herself to promoting young singers both as a juror in international singing competitions and in regular master classes. Personal details

Claudia Schubert began studying singing in 1986 at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt with Elsa Cavelti and participated in master classes with Laura Sarti in London. From 1987 to 1991 she held a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. Since 1987 she has appeared in many important music centers in Europe, in Israel, Japan, Canada and the USA. At renowned festivals for early music she has collaborated with conductors such as Frieder Bernius, Frans Brüggen, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Reinhard Goebel, Ton Koopman, Herrmann Max, and Jordi Savall. Her activities have been augmented with guest appearances at the opera houses in Frankfurt, Brussels and Salzburg. Personal details

The bass-baritone Manfred Bittner was born in Weißenburg (Bavaria) and received his basic musical training as a choirboy with the Regensburger Domspatzen. He studied with Wolfgang Brendel in Munich and completed a course of masterclasses in Stuttgart. Numerous radio and CD recordings illustrate his artistic achievements. He performs regularly with conductors such as Frieder Bernius, Konrad Junghänel, Ivor Bolton und Thomas Hengelbrock. Personal details

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Joachim Kuntzsch was born in Dresden and studied piano, conducting and singing in Hamburg. His first engagement at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg enabled him to realize his varied interests as pianist, singer, narrator, composer, actor and pedagogue. There and at the Staatstheater Stuttgart he has devised numerous song programs with the company, performed the works of Bertolt Brecht with music by Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill and Paul Dessau, has consistently championed operetta with singing actors, musicals or theatrical series of pictures with his own compositions. Joachim Kuntzsch has been professor of singing for actors at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg since 1993. Personal details

Angela Winkler was born in 1944 in the Uckermark, Brandenburg and studied acting with Ernst F. Fürbringer in Munich. In the 1970s she was engaged at the Schaubühne Berlin under Peter Stein. She became internationally known with her roles in Volker Schlöndorff’s film versions of The lost honor of Katharina Blum (1975) and The Tin Drum (1979) and has been awarded prizes including the German Critics’ Prize and the Federal Film Prize as actress of the year. In addition to many and diverse film roles, the main focus of her work has been in the theatre. She has worked many times with Peter Zadek and has performed in important productions at the Deutsches Theater, Volksbühne in Berlin, Burgtheater in Vienna and at the Berliner Ensemble. Personal details

The actress Julia Nachtmann was born in 1981 in Filderstadt near Stuttgart. She made her debut at the Junge Oper Stuttgart before going on to study acting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg (2001–2005). Since then, she has appeared in numerous productions at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg and the Thalia Theater Hamburg as well as in several TV films. Julia Nachtmann’s work has been recognized with many awards; at the Theatertreffen deutschsprachiger Schauspielstudierender in Hannover 2004 she received a solo prize for her performance of Olivia in Shakespeare’s As you like it and in 2006 was awarded the Boy Gobert Prize. She has been engaged at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg since the 2007/08 season. Personal details

Michael Ransburg, born in 1982, studied from 2001–2005 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. His first major role was in Jörg Widmann’s Monologe für zwei, premiered at the Munich Biennale. Since then he has appeared in productions at the Thalia Theater Hamburg, Kammerspiele Hamburg, Schauspielhaus Bochum and the Volkstheater Munich. He made his first television film, Sturmflut, in 2005. Since the 2005/2006 season, Michael Ransburg has been a member of the company at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, where he has appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a co-production with the Salzburg Festival. Personal details