Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (of its complete name Johann Nikolaus, Graf of the Fountain und of Harnoncourt-Unverzagt ) is a Leader, violoncellist and Austrian gambist , born the December 6th 1929 with Berlin. It is known for the great historicity of its musical interpretations of the traditional era and posterior.

Biography

Harnoncourt was born with Berlin, grew with Graz and studied the music with Vienna. His/her mother Ladislaja Gräfin von Meran, Freiin von Brandhoven, was the grand-daughter of the Archduke of Austria Johann de Styrie and the girl of the Count de Meran. His/her Eberhard father of the Fountain, count d' Harnoncourt-Unverzagt made studies of engineer and worked in Berlin. He had two children of its first marriage. Two years after the birth of Nikolaus, his/her brother Philipp Harnoncourt is born. The family moves in Graz, where the father obtained a doctorate and a station in the government ( Landesregierung ) of Styrie.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt founded the Concentus Musicus Wien with his wife, Alice Hoffelner, in 1953 whereas he plays of the Violoncelle with the Symphony orchestra of Vienna. This group was dedicated to the authentic performance on instruments of time, and towards the Années 1970 its work within this last gets a certain notoriety to him.

In fact, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus Wien takes seat in the forefront of the musicians who, by their research tasks, their interpretations, their writings, their teaching, initiated, as from the Sixties, a true revolution in the interpretation and the reception of the European Baroque music. This revolution radically modified our comprehension and our evaluation of most of this music whose productions cover the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, and it exerted a great influence on our musical culture, our musical sensitivity and our cultural practices. Many recordings of Harnoncourt and Concentus Musicus Wien seem references impossible to circumvent today. The Brandenburger Concertos (1964) and the integral of the Cantatas of Bach, Orfeo (1968) and the incoronazione di Poppea (1974) of Monteverdi, It Cimento dell' armonia E dell' inventione (1977) of Vivaldi, Belshazzar (1978), the Ode with Holy Cecile (1978), Alexander' S Feast (1979), Jephtha (1979) of Haendel, counts among the most admirable florets of abundant and brilliant discography.

He later worked with many others Orchestre S by using modern instruments, but always taking care to preserve a historical authenticity in term of tempos, musical dynamics, etc He also slightly extended his repertory while continuing to play of the music baroque, work which returned it celebrates, but also the repertory of Opérette S Vienneses. Recently, it carried out a re-recording of the symphonies of Beethoven, with the Chamber Orchestrated Europe off.

In 1971, Harnoncourt and the chief Gustav Leonhardt all the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach began the project to record. The project finished in 1990, and it was the first and single complete cycle of cantatas (excluded the nº 51 and 199) to use voices alone and an exclusively male chorus. In 2001, an excellent criticism and a Grammy Award came to reward the recording for the Passion according to Saint Matthieu for Bach directed by Harnoncourt.

Writings published

the dialog musical, Monteverdi, Bach and Mozart , translated from German by Refusals Hakes, published into 1985 with the Editions Gallimard
the musical speech , translated from German by Refusals Hakes, published into 1982 with the Editions Gallimard

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