Musik aus der Frauenkirche Dresden - Musikalische Höhepunkte der Jahre 2005–2010
The fifth anniversary of the consecration of the Dresdner Frauenkirche will occur on 31 October. To mark this occasion Carus presents the musical highlights from the CD series entitled Musik aus der Frauenkirche Dresden. The recordings in this series not only document the rich musical tradition which has been reborn in the Frauenkirche, but they are also works of art in sound. Thus this exclusive series, which in the meantime numbers a total of 18 CDs, has been given great acclaim in the press. Authenticity and quality characterize the series to a special degree. The artists most closely connected with the Frauenkirche include Ludwig Güttler, kantor Matthias Grünert or organist Samuel Kummer. Recordings have also been made by the Dresdner Philharmonie and the Dresdner Kreuzchor, as well as the Dresdner Kammerchor, directed by, among others, the late Charles Mackerras and Hans-Christoph Rademann. Renowned soloists, ensembles and conductors from all over the world, such as Jos van Immersell and Nicholas McGegan, round off the complete artistic picture of the Carus CD series.
Purchase
Additional product information
Contents
-
Preface writer
Ralf Ruhnau
-
Choir
Dresdner Kammerchor
DRESDNER KAMMERCHOR Radiant, transparent, homogeneous and flexible: the Dresdner Kammerchor is internationally esteemed for its unique culture of sonority. Its artistic director Hans-Christoph Rademann has shaped this distinctive sound since the choir was founded in 1985, leading it to worldwide renown. The choir’s diverse repertoire has its foundation in Baroque music, with a special focus on Saxon court music. As a cultural ambassador for Dresden and Saxony, the choir keeps the musical heritage of its homeland alive and makes it known to an international audience. A prominent example of this is the world’s first complete Heinrich Schütz recording, which was concluded in 2019, published by Carus-Verlag, and has won several awards: among others, the St. John Passion was awarded the Annual Prize of the German Record Critics in 2016, and the last installment of the edition containing “Psalms and Peace Music” was honored with the Opus Klassik 2020. The choir has also rediscovered, performed anew and recorded on CD numerous works by other Central German masters such as Johann Adolf Hasse, Johann David Heinichen and Jan Dismas Zelenka in collaboration with the Dresden Baroque Orchestra and other musical partners. In addition to symphonic choral works from the Classical and Romantic periods, a further repertoire focus is on challenging a cappella works of the 19th and 20th centuries. This includes music by Johannes Brahms, Max Reger, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, Arnold Schoenberg and Herman Berlinski. For years, the Dresdner Kammerchor has been intensively dedicated to modern and contemporary music, with world premieres, first performances and its own commissioned works. This commitment is deepened further by diverse music education and youth projects. In 2009, Hans-Christoph Rademann and the Dresdner Kammerchor initiated the Dresden Choral Workshop for New Music, which took place for the 4th time in 2018. For its services to contemporary choral music, the choir was awarded a Sponsorship Prize by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. The Dresdner Kammerchor gives guest performances in centers of music and at festivals throughout Europe. Tours have taken the singers to Israel, India, Taiwan, China, Mexico, South America, South Africa and the USA. Musical partners to date have included René Jacobs, Sir Roger Norrington, Ádám Fischer, Václav Luks, Stefan Parkman, Trevor Pinnock, Christoph Prégardien, Jos van Immerseel, Herbert Blomstedt, Omer Meir Wellber, Christian Thielemann, Riccardo Chailly and Reinhard Goebel, as well as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Anima Eterna Brugge, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. The choir regularly collaborates with the Wroc"naw Baroque Orchestra. By means of a cooperation with the Dresden University of Music, the Dresdner Kammerchor keeps the connection to its roots alive. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Dresdner Kreuzchor
The Dresden Kreuzchor is one of the world’s oldest and most famous boys’ choirs. Its most important task in its 800 years of existence is still the musical accompaniment of the vespers and services at Dresden’s Kreuzkirche. Not only on religious holidays but also throughout the entire church year the Kreuzchor accompanies half of all liturgical services in the famous church on the old market. The impressive architecture of the Kreuzkirche is an added attraction for the 3000 spectators of its choir concerts. As the city’s oldest and critically acclaimed cultural institution, the Dresden Kreuzchor has marked Dresden’s musical life in a very special way and spreads the city’s reputation as a cultural metropolis throughout the world as one of its most prominent ambassadors. Several times a year, the Dresden Kreuzchor goes on national and international concert tours beyond Germany and Europe’s borders to Israel, Canada, Japan, South America and the USA. Moreover, it performs at international music festivals as well as on countless radio and television recordings. A very wide repertoire ranging from early Baroque to world premieres of contemporary music has enabled it to make more than 800 recordings in the last 80 years for prestigious record labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Teldec, Capriccio and Berlin Classics. There is a constant cooperation with famous orchestras such as the Dresden Philharmonic and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Renowned opera houses regularly employ members of the choir as soloists for roles such as the three boys in the Magic Flute. The Kreuzchor singers, called “Kruzianer,” still pursue their education and graduate from the Kreuzschule; about half of them live in the adjacent boarding school. In addition to their regular classes, the 150 singers aged nine to eighteen have weekly singing and instrumental lessons. Their daily rehearsals and the specific sound of the choir are the basis of the success and the fame of the Dresden Kreuzchor. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Dresdner Philharmonie
Mitglieder der Dresdner Philharmonie Personal details
-
Ensemble
Virtuosi Saxoniae
With the Virtuosi Saxoniae Ludwig Güttler founded a chamber orchestra in 1985 which, through its versatile instrumental forces, affords a wide range of possibilities for concert programs. Made up of leading members of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the ensemble has made it its task to promote the works of the golden age of 18th century European music culture, particularly as reflected in Dresden’s court ensemble, theatre, and church music. The ensemble performs on modern instruments, but adopts a historicallyinformed approach to questions of performance practice. After a period of intensive preparation, the chamber orchestra made its public debut at the 1986 Dresden Music Festival. Since then, the Virtuosi Saxoniae have developed an outstanding reputation through numerous concerts both in Germany and abroad. Numerous CD recordings illustrate the ensemble’s musical versatility. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Sächsisches Vocalensemble
The Sächsisches Vocalensemble, founded by Matthias Jung, is known for its model performances of early music, its stylistic reliability, virtuosity and emotional depth. One of the ensemble’s particular concerns is the performance of unknown or seldom performed compositions written for the Dresden court. The interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s oeuvre has attracted international attention – their recording of his motets was awarded the Cannes Classical Award. The ensemble also focuses on music of the contemporary era. The ensemble regularly performs at renowned festivals; concert tours have taken them to France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy and Japan. Numerous radio recordings attest to their outstanding musicianship. Furthermore, the ensemble’s CDs include recordings of works by Schütz, Bouzignac, Telemann, Lotti, Hasse, Sarri, Feo, Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Schumann and Pepping, as well as with middle German Christmas cantatas. A CD containing Petr Eben’s sacred choral music was released in 2013. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Kammerchor der Frauenkirche
The Kammerchor der Frauenkirche was founded by Matthias Grünert, choirmaster of the Frauenkirche, in January 2005. The choir’s main activities include providing the music for services and singing in concerts and other events at the church. The choir is also an ambassador for the Frauenkirche’s church music and gives concerts in Germany and abroad (France, Italy and Japan). Its debut recording was the CD “Vom Himmel hoch” for Carus (Carus 83.233). The thirty semi-professional singers specialize in a cappella repertoire and 17th and 18th century oratorios. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Winchester Cathedral Choir
Winchester Cathedral Choir is one of England's leading cathedral choirs with a repertoire extending from Weelkes and Byrd to Howells, Leighton and Tavener. It consists of 16-20 boy choristers and 12 Lay Clerks. The choirboys receive their schooling at The Pilgrims' School, where they learn to play at least one instrument. The Lay Clerks are experienced musicians, often with careers in singing or teaching. The choir's main commitment is to singing at cathedral services. In addition it gives performances at home and abroad, having sung at the Henry Wood Proms in the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and recently in Florence Cathedral. In 2003 the choir appeared with The English Concert in Göttingen in a celebrated performance of Handel's Jephtha. Personal details
-
Ensemble
FestspielOrchester Göttingen
The FestpielOrchester Göttingen (FOG) has convinced audiences and critics alike since its foundation in 2006, and it is especially appreciated for the richness of its tone color and its light, flexible and sensual sound. The FOG includes specialists in authentic period performance practice from such internationally famous early music ensembles as Les Arts Florissants, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln, the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco), Il Complesso Barocco, and the Orchestra of the 18th century. Under the direction of Nicholas McGegan they have become a homogeneous ensemble, which has confirmed the reputation of the Internationale Händel-FestspieIe Göttingen as an innovative and first class festival. During the 2008 festival season the orchestra has taken part in the oratorio Samson, giving guest performances in Dresden, Hanover, Kassel and Halle/Saale, which aroused enthusiasm in both the audiences and the press: “The Göttinger play like gods” wrote a critic in the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung following the concert in Halle/Saale. During the Handel celebration year 2009, the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death, the FestspielOrchester Göttingen is taking part in a staged opera production at venues including the Drottningholm Slotstheater in Sweden. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Blechbläserenesemble Ludwig Güttler
The Ludwig Güttler Brass Ensemble from Dresden was formed by Ludwig Güttler in 1978. It combines solo players from the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra of Dresden) and the Dresden Philharmonia. Concert tours have taken the ensemble the length and breadth of Europe as well as to Asia. For years now, CD, radio and television productions have provided impressive evidence of the ensemble’s work. Ludwig Güttler has been especially praised for his ability to transfer the experience gained through playing chamber music and instrumental solos to the medium of the brass ensemble, and for achieving with this ensemble an extremely lively, flexible and finely nuanced music-making. Each of their programmes contains a series of hitherto unknown or rarely performed works which he has unearthed or prepared for the ensemble. In general the brass ensemble uses modern orchestral instruments of German design. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Chor "Anima Eterna"
The Anima Eterna Choir is an ensemble of selected soloists and, like its orchestral counterpart, is a group of musicians which comes together to work on specific projects. The core membership, which can be expanded as required for larger works, comprises 16 singers. The choir’s hallmark is its combination of vocal artistry and committed music making. The ensemble was founded in 1987, since when it has established an enviable reputation, appearing at important festivals and concerts in the leading European musical centers. The choir has toured regularly with the Anima Eterna orchestra in Belgium, the Netherlands and further afield in Europe. Previous ventures included a Buxtehude project in the group’s inaugural year, a European tour of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, and concerts in Paris, Lisbon, Antwerp and at the opening of the Concertgebouw in Bruges. This season, both groups can be heard in an all-Haydn program at the Haydn-Festspiele in Eisenstadt (Schloss Esterháza) and the Bremen Music Festival. Anima Eterna recorded Beethoven’s 9th Symphony last year, and has performed it in Paris, Brussels and Bruges. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Chor der Sächsischen Staatsope
-
Ensemble
Staatskapelle Dresden
Founded in 1548 by the Elector Moritz von Sachsen, the Staatskapelle Dresden is among the world’s oldest orchestras and it is rich in tradition; it is probably the only one which has existed continuously for more than four and a half centuries, and has always been among the leading orchestras during every epoch. Along with its unique musicianship, founded on its quite specific ensemble spirit, the unmistakable sound of the Staatskapelle has evolved through its long tradition in matters of timbre, transparency and homogeneity, which has lead audiences and critics everywhere to refer to it as one of the great orchestras of our time. Important conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on the former Hofkapelle, now Staatskapelle. Its musical directors have included Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, who called the orchestra his “miraculous harp.” Important principal conductors of the 20th century were Ernst von Schuch, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Rudolf Kempe, Otmar Suitner, Kurt Sanderling and Herbert Blomstedt. From 1992 until his death in 2001 Giuseppe Sinopoli was the principal conductor, then from 2002 until 2004 Bernard Haitink. At the beginning of the 2007/2008 season Fabio Luisi became General Musical Director of the Staatsoper Dresden and therefore also the principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. The honorary conductor of the orchestra since 1990 is Sir Colin Davis. In April 2007 the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden was the only orchestra so far to be awarded, in Brussels, the “Prize of the European Cultural Foundation for the preservation of the musical world cultural heritage”. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Orchester "Anima Eterna"
In the last fifteen years, the Orchestra Anima Eterna has developed from a small Baroque ensemble into a full-scale symphony orchestra whose forces and instrumentation can be varied according to programming and the demands of historical performance practice. The orchestra has earned an excellent reputation, particularly for its authentic performances of the core 19th century repertoire; its historically informed interpretations now encompass repertoire up to the mid-20th century. Anima Eterna is involved in these ventures on a project-by-project basis. Research into historical performance practice always takes place in the context of a dialogue between conductor and orchestra. For each project, a regular core of soloists is supplemented with musicians who have experience particularly with repertoire and instruments. Anima Eterna regularly performs in Belgium and abroad. Since 2003 it has been “Orchestra in Residence” at the Concertgebouw in Bruges and has recorded CDs for the “Collection Anima Eterna” on the French record label Zig-Zag Territoires. Personal details
-
Ensemble
amarcord
An unmistakable sound, breathtaking blend, tremendous sense of musical assurance and a good portion of charm and wit are amarcord’s special hallmarks. The group’s extremely diverse and wide-ranging repertoire encompasses medieval songs, Renaissance madrigals and masses, compositions and cycles of works from the European Romantic and 20th century as well as a cappella arrangements of folk songs from all over the world, and well-known rock, pop, soul, and jazz songs. The ensemble has won prizes at numerous international competitions. In 2002 amarcord won the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb. Alongside the Gewandhaus Orchestra and St. Thomas’s Choir, amarcord is one of the most important representatives of the music city of Leipzig at home and abroad. The group is a frequent guest at leading music festivals. Numerous concert tours have taken the singers to over fifty countries and to almost every continent in the world. In association with the Goethe-Institut they have given guest performances in Australia, South East Asia, the Middle East, Russia, Africa, and Central America. The International Festival for Vocal Music "a cappella" (www.a-cappella-festival.de), inaugurated by amarcord in 1997, has become one of the most important festivals of its kind under the group’s artistic direction. Numerous CDs impressively document the different facets of amarcord’s repertoire, and have won many prizes such as ECHO Klassik (2010, 2012), the International Classical Music Award, Supersonic Award and the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award. Personal details
-
Ensemble
Kölner Akademie
The Kölner Akademie has made a name for its distinctive and historically accurate performances of music from the 17th to 21st centuries. By using original orchestral seatings, instrumentation appropriate to the work (whether modern or historical instruments) and critical editions, the ensemble strives to do justice to the composer’s original intentions. The Kölner Akademie performs at leading international festivals and has received the highest accolades for its performances in Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Holland, Italy, Belgium, Estonia, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. The ensemble’s CD series “Forgotten Treasures,” highly praised in the music press, now stands at ten recordings of a planned total of fifteen. These include world premiere recordings of works by lesser-known composers including Cru sell, Danzi, Pichl, Vanhal, Wilms, Romberg, Neu - komm, Fischer, Kunc, Jeanjean, D’Alvimare and Streibelt. In the fall of 2009, the Kölner Akademie began recording a complete cycle of Mozart piano concertos with Ronald Brautigam. Personal details
-
Orchestra
Dresdner Barockorchester
One of the distinguishing features of the Dresdner Barockorchester, founded in 1991, is the fact that its membership includes both early music specialists and orchestral musicians drawn from the Dresdner Staatskapelle and the Dresdner Philharmonie. Working together with baroque instruments, with their specific clarity of sound and articulation they achieve a variegated, eloquent music-making in which their different areas of musical experience are combined. The musicians are united in their desire to follow the splendid example set by the Dresden Court Orchestra of Augustus the Strong. The heritage of that era is the music of such conductors and instrumentalists of the Court Orchestra as Hasse, Heinichen, Zelenka, Quantz and Pisendel, whose works have a prominent place in the repertoire of the Dresdner Barockorchester. This repertoire extends from the end of the 17th century through Mozart. The Dresdner Barockorchester works closely with the Dresdner Kammerchor and its conductor Hans- Christoph Rademann. Personal details
-
Conductor
Hans-Christoph Rademann
| 1965Conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann is an immensely versatile artist with a broad repertoire who devotes himself with equal passion and expertise both to the performance and rediscovery of early music and to the first performances and cultivation of Contemporary Music. Born in Dresden and raised in the Erzgebirge mountains, he was influenced at an early age by the great Central German kantorial and musical tradition. He was a student at the traditional Kreuzgymnasium, a member of the famous Kreuzchor, and studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. During his studies, he founded the Dresdner Kammerchor and formed it into a top international choir which is still under his direction today. Since 2013, Hans-Christoph Rademann has been the academy director of the International Bach Academy Stuttgart. He regularly collaborates with leading choirs and ensembles of the international music scene. From 1999 to 2004 he was chief conductor of the NDR Choir and from 2007 to 2015 chief conductor of the RIAS Chamber Choir. Guest conducting engagements have led and continue to lead him to the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, the Collegium Vocale Gent, the Akademie für Alte Musik, the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, the Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, among others. Hans-Christoph Rademann has been awarded prizes and honors for his artistic work, including the Johann Walter Plaque of the Saxon Music Council (2014), the Saxon Constitutional Medal (2008), the Sponsorship Prize as well as the Art Prize of the state capital Dresden (1994 and 2014 respectively). He received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik several times for his numerous CD recordings (most recently in 2016), as well as the Grand Prix du Disque (2002), the Diapason d’Or (2006 & 2011), the CHOC de l’année 2011 and the Best Baroque Vocal Award 2014. In 2016 he was awarded the European Church Music Prize of the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd. His exemplary interpretation and recording of the complete works of Heinrich Schütz with the Dresdner Kammerchor in the Stuttgart Carus-Verlag, which was completed in 2019, was awarded the newly endowed Heinrich Schütz Prize as well as the OPUS KLASSIK 2020 in the same year. Hans-Christoph Rademann is professor of choral conducting at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. He is also artistic director of the Musikfest Erzgebirge, ambassador of the Erzgebirge and patron of the Christian Hospice Service Dresden. Personal details
-
Conductor
Roderich Kreile
For centuries the position as cantor of the Dresdner Kreuzchor (Choir of the Church of the Holy Cross) has been among the most honorable and renowned positions in Protestant church music. Roderich Kreile has served as the 28th post-Reformation cantor of the Dresdner Kreuzchor since 1997. He was born in 1956 and studied church music and choral conducting in Munich. Roderich Kreile quickly achieved nationwide recognition as a church musician. He taught at the Munich Conservatoire between 1989 and 1996, eventually as a professor, and led two choirs. Furthermore, in 1994 he took over the position as Director of the Munich Philharmonic Choir. As an organist and tutor he has received invitations from both within Germany and from abroad. Kreuzkantor Roderich Kreile all music performances in the church as well as the concerts and tours of the Dresdner Kreuzchor. There, he has established with the members of the choir – named “Kruzianer” –, a wide-ranging repertoire of religious and secular choral works from throughout the history of music. In the last few years he has given many compositions their first performances. He has also strengthened ties with renowned orchestras and produced numerous radio and CD recordings. In previous centuries the area of responsibility of the cantor of the Dresdner Kreuzchor was concentrated primarily on the leadership of the religious services, as is still the case. Nowadays, however, the remit of the Kantor far exceeds purely artistic responsibility; as the leader of the Dresdner Kreuzchor, Roderich Kreile also has the responsibility of being a community representative. Personal details
-
Conductor
Ludwig Güttler
Ludwig Güttler is one of today’s leading virtuosi on the trumpet and corno da caccia. Through his wide and diverse range of interests he has also achieved worldwide renown as a conductor, scholar, promoter, and patron. After studying in Leipzig, he was appointed principal trumpet in the Handel Festival Orchestra, Halle, in 1965. He held a similar position in the Dresden Philharmonic from 1969 to 1980. He has taught at the International Music Seminar in Weimar and as Professor at the Musikhochschule Dresden. He directs opera productions and master classes, and is a regular jury member at leading competitions. As a soloist and conductor, Ludwig Güttler has an enthusiastic following both in Germany and abroad. He has made over fifty highly-acclaimed recordings, where he is featured as a chamber musician, soloist, and conductor. Since the early 1980s he has had a particular interest in the revival of 18th century Saxon court music. Thanks to Güttler’s researches the concert repertoire has been enriched by numerous forgotten or previously unknown works of this period. Following an analysis of the materials used in early instruments, Ludwig Güttler made a considerable contribution to the new development of the corno da caccia. In 1976 he founded the Leipzig Bach-Collegium, in 1978 the Ludwig Güttler Brass ensemble and in 1985 the chamber orchestra Virtuosi Saxoniae, of which he is director and soloist. For the last twenty years, choral symphonic concerts which he directs and guest conducts have formed an increasing part of his activities. Ludwig Güttler has received numerous awards for his many achievements. He was awarded the Record Prize of the Deutsche Phonoakademie Hamburg in 1983 for the “Discovery of the Year,” and in 1989 the Frankfurt Music Prize for exceptional achievements in his specialist area, as well as in national and international musical life. As chairman of the committee of the Society to Support the Reconstruction of the Frauenkirche Dresden, he was awarded the first national prize from the German National Foundation in 1997. In 2000 he received the Claus Brendel Prize for his meritorious service to the works of Johann Adolf Hasse. In March 2006, Ludwig Güttler was awarded the German Fundraising Prize for his dedicated contribution to the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche Dresden. In September 2007 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by President Horst Köhler, and in November 2007, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Personal details
-
Conductor
Matthias Grünert
| 1973Matthias Grünert was born in Nuremberg in 1973. He took an advanced course in church music and majored in organ performance in Bayreuth and at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, studying with Hartmut Rohmeyer and others. He also attended courses with F. Tagliavini, J. Laukvik, M. Radulescu and others. While studying, he was an assistant at Lübeck Cathedral and worked as a church musician at St. Petri in the health resort of Bosau (Schleswig-Holstein). From 2000–05 he was city and district choirmaster at St. Marien in Greiz, and in 2003 performed the complete organ works of Bach. In 2004 Matthias Grünert was appointed principal choirmaster at the Frauenkirche in Dresden, and since 2005 has been artistic director with responsibility for all church music events there. He has founded a large choir of 120 singers, the Kammerchor der Frauenkirche and the ensemble frauenkirche, comprising musicians from the Sächsische Staatskapelle and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won prizes in several organ competitions, given concerts as an organist, conductor and keyboard player in Germany and abroad, and made many CD, television and radio recordings. Personal details
-
Conductor
Nicholas McGegan
For the London Independent Nicholas McGegan is “one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation,” and for the New Yorker magazine, “an expert in 18th century style.” But the Cleveland Plain Dealer was more direct when it praised Nicholas McGegan for “bringing rhythmic zest to all things baroque.” And as such he is known throughout the world for performances that match authority with enthusiasm, scholarship with joy, and curatorial responsibility with evangelical exuberance. Through more than twenty years as its music director, McGegan has established the San Francisco-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra as the leading Baroque ensemble in America – and at the forefront of historical performance practice worldwide, thanks to notable appearances at Carnegie Hall, the London Proms, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the International Handel Festival, Göttingen where he has been artistic director since 1991. In Göttingen and with the PBO he has defined an approach to period style that sets the current standard: probing, serious but undogmatic, recognizing that the music of the past does not belong in a museum or in academia, but in vigorous engagement with an audience, for pleasure and delight on both sides of the stage. He has been a pioneer in the process of exporting historically informed practice beyond the small world of period instruments to the wider one of conventional symphonic forces. His discography includes the world premiere recording of Handel’s oratorio Susanna, which attracted both a Gramophone Award and Grammy nomination, and recent issues on Carus of the same composer’s Solomon, Samson, and Acis and Galatea (the latter a rarity in that it unearths the little-known version adapted by Felix Mendelssohn). Born in England, Nicholas McGegan was educated at Oxford, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music, London. His awards include an honorary professorship at Georg-August University, Göttingen, and an official Nicholas McGegan Day, declared by the Mayor of San Francisco in recognition of two decades of distinguished work with the Philharmonia Baroque. He holds an honorary degree at London’s Royal College of Music and the Handel Prize of the Halle Handel Festival. Personal details
-
Conductor
Jos van Immerseel
Jos van Immerseel was born in Antwerp, Belgium and studied piano, organ, singing, harpsichord (with Kenneth Gilbert) and orchestral conducting (with Daniel Sternefeld). In 1973 he won the first Harpsichord Competition in Paris. His widely praised historically informed performances are the result of a constant dialogue between practice, musicological research, in particular his study of rhetoric in music, and the study of musical instruments. Over the years Jos van Immerseel has amassed an impressive collection of historic harpsichords and pianos enabling him to choose the most suitable instrument for a particular performance, which he can also use on concert tours and for recordings. He has received some of the most prestigious awards for his recordings as a soloist, including a Diapason d’Or and Le Choc du Monde de la Musique. Van Immerseel directs master classes in Europe, Japan and the USA and teaches at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam. He been a guest conductor with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Wiener Akademie, Musica Florea Prague and many other orchestras. In 1987, Jos van Immerseel founded his own orchestra, Anima Eterna. The orchestra and conductor have made a large number of prize-winning recordings for the Accent, Channel Classics and Sony record labels, and since 2002, for ZigZagTerritoires, Paris. Personal details
-
Conductor
Sir Charles Mackerras
| 1925-2010
-
Conductor
Michael Alexander Willens
Michael Alexander Willens, artistic director and conductor of the Kölner Akademie received B.M and M.M degrees at the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied conducting with John Nelson. He has also studied with Jacques-Louis Monod and Leonard Bernstein. His broad experience has given him an unusual depth of background and familiarity with performance practice styles ranging from Baroque, Classical and Romantic through Contemporary. In addition to performing the standard repertoire, Michael Alexander Willens is dedicated to perfoming the works of lesser known contemporary American composers as well. He has appeared as a guest conductor in Germany, Poland, Holland, Brazil and Israel. Personal details
-
Soloist - soprano
Sibylla Rubens
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
-
Soloist - soprano
Genia Kühmeier
-
Soloist - soprano
Anna Korondi
-
Soloist - alto
Annette Markert
Annette Markert, born in Thuringia, studied at the Musikhochschule “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, was engaged by the opera companies in Halle and Leipzig, and since 1996 has been a free-lance opera and concert singer. This mezzo-soprano has sung with the New York Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt Masur, with the Vienna Philharmonic under Philippe Herreweghe and the International Bachakademie Stuttgart under Helmuth Rilling. She has also sung regularly with the Dresden Kreuzchor and the Leipzig Thomanerchor. For her participation in Handel operas she was awarded the Händel-Preis of the city of Halle. A wide range of CD productions, some with Ton Koopman and Ludwig Güttler, round off her activities. Personal details
-
Soloist - alto
Anke Vondung
Anke Vondung was born in Speyer and studied with Professor Rudolf Piernay at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts. She was an ensemble member at the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck from the 1999/2000 season until the end of the 2001/02 season where she sang the central roles of her voice type. This was followed by guest appearances, among others, at the Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, the Salzburg Festival and the Mozart Week Salzburg, the Opéra Bastille Paris, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, the Staatsoper Berlin, the San Diego Opera, the Munich Opera Festival, the Flanders Festival as well as the Hamburg State Opera. She gave her debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York in October 2007 singing Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, where she later also sang in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. She was an ensemble member of the Saxon State Opera Dresden for the seasons from 2003/04 to 2005/06, and has remained closely connected with the opera house as a guest artist. As a concert and lied singer, Anke Vondung has performed with renowned orchestras under conductors such as James Conlon, Helmuth Rilling, Sir Roger Norrington, Philippe Herreweghe, Edo de Waart, Kent Nagano, Peter Schreier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, James Levine, Marek Janowski, Alexander Shelley, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Hans-Christoph Rademann and Jeffrey Tate. Personal details
-
Soloist - tenor
Jörg Schneider
Jörg Schneider received his first musical training in the Vienna Boys’ Choir. Then he studied singing in Vienna with Elfriede Obrowsky, and he now makes guest appearances in lyrical tenor roles at major European opera houses. He is also in demand as a Lieder and concert singer. He has made guest appearances at, among other venues, the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna. Numerous CD productions demonstrate the wide range of his artistry. Jörg Schneider has worked with such conductors as Dennis Russell Davis, Edo de Waart, Pinchas Steinberg, Gustav Kuhn, Semyon Bychkow and Zubin Mehta. Personal details
-
Soloist - tenor
Yves Saelens
-
Soloist - bass
Klaus Mertens
-
Soloist - bass
Georg Zeppenfeld
Georg Zeppenfeld studied concert and opera singing in Detmold and Cologne. Along with his stage engagements (at, e. g., the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco Opera), Georg Zeppenfeld has built up an extensive international concert career. In particular, works by Bach, Handel and Haydn, together with the great late-romantic oratorios, have given him opportunities to work in many European concert centers with such conductors as Marcus Creed, Konrad Junghänel, Peter Neumann, Peter Schreier, Helmuth Rilling and Bruno Weil. He also appears regularly at major festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Glyndebourne Festival, Brucknerfest Linz and Rheingau Musik Festival. Personal details
-
Soloist - oboe
Andreas Lorenz
Andreas Lorenz (oboe), was born in 1952 in Schmatal-Cranzahl (in the Ore Mountains region of Saxony), and studied at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden. After engagements at the Meiningen Theater, Staatskapelle Berlin, and Dresden Philharmonic, in 1982 Lorenz joined the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. He has received international awards, and enjoys a busy solo career performing with ensembles including Concertino Dresden, Virtuosi Saxoniae, Sächsische Oboisten-Company, and Besozzi-Consortium Dresden. In 1997 Lorenz became a professor at the Musikhochschule Dresden. Personal details
-
Soloist - organ
Kay Johannsen
| 1961
-
Soloist - organ
Samuel Kummer
| 1968-2024Samuel Kummer was born in Stuttgart in 1968. After receiving his diploma from the lycée he studied church music at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart. In the organ classes of Christoph Bossert, Werner Jacob and Ludger Lohmann he acquired a broad repertoire of music in many styles, which is complemented by his ability in the field of organ improvisation (he studied improvisation with Willibald Bezler, Wolfgang Seifen and Hans Martin Corrinth). During his studies he took part in many master classes. Upon his graduation in 1997 he received an award for organ improvisation. Since 1988 Samuel Kummer has given organ recitals in Germany and elsewhere, appearing in such countries as the Netherlands, the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, Russia, the USA and Central America. He has played in important concert series such as the European Organ Festival at Maastricht, the International Bach Festival at Warsaw, in Riga Cathedral, in the St. Petersburg Philharmonia and the Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City. In 2005 he appeared again at the Cathedral in Guatemala City, where he had played in 1999 in aid of the restoration and upkeep of the historic Walcker organ of 1937. Samuel Kummer is a prizewinner at international organ competitions. In 1996 he won the 1st prize at the “Concours L’Europe et L’Orgue” at Maastricht. From 1998 to 2005 Kummer was District Choirmaster at the Martinskirche in Kirchheim/Teck. Numerous oratorio performances under his direction (most recently Frank Martin’s In terra pax) and his “Organ Music at Market Time” series met with a warm response. In 2005 Samuel Kummer was appointed organist of the Dresden Frauenkirche. He is co-initiator of the “Dresden Organ Cycle,” a joint organ recital series presented at the Kreuzkirche, Hofkirche and Frauenkirche in Dresden. As a soloist Samuel Kummer appeared with the Chemnitz Philharmonic in 2007. His CD of organ works by Bach and Duruflé (Carus 83.188), released by Carus-Verlag at the end of 2005, earned him unanimous praise from the international specialist press. Soon after its release it was already rated in the classical charts. Personal details
-
Soloist - organ
Matthias Grünert
| 1973Matthias Grünert was born in Nuremberg in 1973. He took an advanced course in church music and majored in organ performance in Bayreuth and at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, studying with Hartmut Rohmeyer and others. He also attended courses with F. Tagliavini, J. Laukvik, M. Radulescu and others. While studying, he was an assistant at Lübeck Cathedral and worked as a church musician at St. Petri in the health resort of Bosau (Schleswig-Holstein). From 2000–05 he was city and district choirmaster at St. Marien in Greiz, and in 2003 performed the complete organ works of Bach. In 2004 Matthias Grünert was appointed principal choirmaster at the Frauenkirche in Dresden, and since 2005 has been artistic director with responsibility for all church music events there. He has founded a large choir of 120 singers, the Kammerchor der Frauenkirche and the ensemble frauenkirche, comprising musicians from the Sächsische Staatskapelle and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won prizes in several organ competitions, given concerts as an organist, conductor and keyboard player in Germany and abroad, and made many CD, television and radio recordings. Personal details
-
Soloist - organ
Friedrich Kircheis
Friedrich Kircheis (organ, harpsichord) was born in Aue, Saxony, in 1940. His musical talents were recognized and nurtured from an early age. He began organ lessons at the age of 14 and two years later, while still at school, took up his first appointment as Kantor. In 1959 he began studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Leipzig (organ lessons with Wolfgang Schetelich and Hannes Kästner), taking his final examinations in 1964 (passing in organ with distinction). He worked as a church musician in Grimma and Dresden from 1964–69, was chorus master at the Stadttheater Döbeln from 1969–71, and became Kantor and organist at the Diakonissenhauskirche in Dresden in 1973. He was a prizewinner at the fourth International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in 1972. Friedrich Kircheis plays organ and harpsichord in several chamber music ensembles: he was harpsichordist with the Dresdner Kammersolisten from 1975–82, has regularly performed as a partner with the trumpeter Ludwig Güttler since 1979, initially in concerts for trumpet and organ, then as harpsichordist with the Leipzig Bach-Collegium from 1984, and since 1986 as harpsichordist with the chamber orchestra Virtuosi Saxoniae. Concert tours have taken him to many European countries, Japan, and America. Personal details
Reviews
Die Aufnahmen sind nicht nur Dokumente einer mit der Frauenkirche wiedererstandenen reichen Musikpflege, sondern auch klingende Kunstwerke. Authentizität und Qualität zeichnen sie in besonderem Maße aus.
(Kirchenzeitung für das Bistum Eichstätt, März 2011)
Frequent questions about this work
There are no questions and answers available so far or you were unable to find an answer to your specific question about this work? Then click here and send your specific questions to our Customer Services!