Bremer Philharmoniker

Last updated

Die Bremer Philharmoniker 2011 Bremer Philharmoniker 2011.jpg
Die Bremer Philharmoniker 2011
Die Bremer Philharmoniker Poschner und Orchester.jpg
Die Bremer Philharmoniker

The Bremer Philharmoniker is the official orchestra of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. In addition to the music theatre in the Theater Bremen they organise 28 Philharmonic concerts per season, various special, benefit and chamber concerts as well as many projects in the field of music education. Christian Kötter-Lixfeld is the artistic director of the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, [1] and Marko Letonja has been its Generalmusikdirektor since the 2018/2019 season. [2] [3]

Contents

History

In 1820 the cathedral organist Wilhelm Friedrich Riem founded the Bremen Concert Orchestra. He was conductor of this orchestra until his death (1857). He was succeeded as conductor by Carl Martin Reinthaler. The orchestra was supervised by the Verein Bremischer Musikfreunde, founded in 1863.

In 1825 the Gesellschaft für Privatkonzerte – since 1895 Philharmonische Gesellschaft – was founded. It organised a Philharmonic Choir and a Concert Orchestra, as one of the first bourgeois orchestras. The city of Bremen granted subsidies to the orchestra, which was later called the "Philharmonic Orchestra".

Johannes Brahms made his debut as a pianist in 1855. It was his first public appearance with an orchestra. Thirteen years later, the German Requiem was premiered in Bremen under his direction. Even today, the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra still feels a special affinity to Johannes Brahms: His compositions are among the most frequently performed in the repertoire.

The inflation that set in as a result of the First World War made it impossible at the beginning of the 1920s to maintain the Philharmonic Orchestra, which had been engaged on a private basis until then, in this form. It was therefore taken over by Bremen as the city orchestra. The Philharmonic Society borrowed the musicians for its concerts. In 1933, the orchestra was renamed Staatsorchester. After the Second World War, the orchestra was renamed the "Bremen Philharmonic State Orchestra".

In 2002, the orchestra changed its legal form to a limited liability company (Germany) and was renamed Bremer Philharmoniker GmbH. The shareholders are the orchestra musicians, organised in the Bremer Philharmoniker e.V. (26%), the city of Bremen (52%) and the Theater Bremen (22 %).

The company is managed by the General Music Director and the Intendant. The number of musicians is around 82 (as of 2017). As before, a state subsidy of around 4 million euros (as of 2009) is granted. A supervisory committee chaired by the Senator for Culture balances the various interests.

Conductors

Carl Martin Reinthaler Carl Martin Reinthaler Buste von Kropp 1902.jpg
Carl Martin Reinthaler
Markus Poschner (2010) Markus Poschner.tif
Markus Poschner (2010)

Chief conductors and general music directors

Other conductors

Operas and concerts

Each season, the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra performs approximately 175 opera performances at the Theater Bremen in Theater am Goetheplatz, [3] 28 Philharmonic concerts at the Bremen Concert House Die Glocke and around 30 special, family and chamber concerts. The special concerts include, for example, benefit concerts for the Christmas charity fundraising campaign, the Bremen Cancer Aid Fund and the Bürgerpark Bremen  [ de ] as well as concerts within the framework of the Bremen Music Festival, the European Piano Contest Bremen and the International Conductors' Forum of the German Music Council. In their concert series "phil pur", the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra devotes several evenings to the work of a single composer in a Philharmonic concert. Since 2009, the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra has also organised its own festival entitled "phil intensiv". After the first edition focused on Johannes Brahms' four symphonies for four days, Markus Poschner and the orchestra, together with the SWR Big Band, dedicated the second edition to the interplay of composition and improvisation and the encounter between classical music and jazz, symphony orchestra and big band. Richard Wagner's opera "Tristan and Isolde" stood as a concertante performance in 2011 on the festival programme. In addition, there are numerous projects for the promotion of children and young people as well as projects in the "Musikwerkstatt Bremen", founded in 2006. [6] All in all, the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra can be experienced at over 370 events during one season.

The core repertoire of the concerts ranges from the First Viennese School, Romanticism and Post-romanticism to Classical Modernism and Neue Musik. World-class soloists and conductors are continuously engaged, such as Frank Peter Zimmermann, Gidon Kremer, Midori, Julia Fischer, Julian Rachlin, Rudolf Buchbinder, Boris Beresowski, Sabine Meyer, Christopher Hogwood, Mario Venzago and Heinz Holliger. [7]

Music mediation

The Musikwerkstatt Bremen is awarded as a "Place in the Land of Ideas" Musikwerkstatt.jpg
The Musikwerkstatt Bremen is awarded as a "Place in the Land of Ideas"

The Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra accompanies more than 10,000 children and young people every year with a wide variety of events in and outside school. A particularly ambitious project within music education is the "Musikwerkstatt Bremen", which opened in autumn 2006. The "Musikwerkstatt Bremen" was created in cooperation with the State Institute for Schools and pursues the goal of actively bringing children and adults into contact with music through personal experience. In the "Musikwerkstatt", one can gain insights into the world of a symphony orchestra, but above all try out all the instruments of an orchestra under pedagogical guidance.

Several activities were awarded prizes:

Philharmonic Society Bremen

In 1825, the association Society for Private Concerts was founded. [8] He hoped to win capable musicians for Bremen and strove to form a good orchestra and choir. In the beginning the success was moderate, but then a steady concert orchestra with professional and amateur musicians was formed.

The Philharmonic Choir was also formed. After the death of the cathedral cantor and conductor of the Bremen Singakademie Wilhelm Friedrich Riem (1779–1857) there was a common conductor of both choirs since 1858: Carl Martin Reinthaler. After Riem left the choir, both choirs were united under the direction of Max Erdmannsdörfer in 1892 to form the joint Philharmonic Choir.

In 1895 the Gesellschaft für Privatkonzerte became the Philharmonische Gesellschaft. It was involved in Bremen's musical life on a voluntary basis and made a significant contribution to its development and diversity. Music lovers, sponsors and companies support the society. However, it was not in a position to maintain an orchestra of professional musicians in the long term and so it had to borrow musicians from the city orchestra or the state orchestra for its concerts.

Since 2001, Barbara Grobien has been chairwoman of the society.

In 2002, on the initiative of the company, the Bremer Philharmoniker GmbH was founded, [9] in which the company holds a 26% share (see also above). It left the Philharmonic concerts in the Glocke to the GmbH, but continues to organise chamber concerts.

The Philharmonic Society works together with the Musikfest Bremen to ensure high quality. [10] Through a cooperation with Bremen University, [11] a joint seminar is held to introduce the world of European art music.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra based in Berlin, Germany

The Berlin Philharmonic is a German orchestra based in Berlin which is consistently ranked in the top handful of orchestras in the world, distinguished amongst peers for its virtuosity and compelling sound.

Vienna Philharmonic Symphonic orchestra

The Vienna Philharmonic, founded in 1842, is an orchestra considered to be one of the finest in the world.

Mariss Jansons Latvian conductor

Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he was often cited as among the world's leading conductors; in a 2015 Bachtrack poll, he was ranked by music critics as the world's third best living conductor. Jansons was long associated with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as music director.

Felix Otto Dessoff German conductor and composer

Felix Otto Dessoff was a German conductor and composer.

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

The Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg is an internationally renowned symphony orchestra based in Hamburg. As of 2015, Kent Nagano has been General Music Director (Generalmusikdirektor) and chief conductor (Chefdirigent). The Philharmoniker Hamburg also serves as the orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera. The Hamburg Philharmonic is one of three major orchestras in Hamburg, the others being the Hamburger Symphoniker and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.

Wiener Singverein Concert choir of the Vienna Musikverein

The Vienna Singverein is the concert choir of the Vienna Musikverein with around 230 members. It is regularly requested by top orchestras and conductors for large and varied projects.

Günter Neuhold is an Austrian conductor. He attended the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz and graduated in 1968 with a master's degree. He later studied conducting with Franco Ferrara in Rome and with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna.

Dortmunder Philharmoniker German symphony orchestra

The Dortmunder Philharmoniker are a German symphony orchestra based in Dortmund. The orchestra of the Theater Dortmund performs opera in the Opernhaus Dortmund and concert in the Konzerthaus Dortmund. The orchestra was founded in 1887 and has been shaped by conductors such as Wilhelm Schüchter, Marek Janowski, Moshe Atzmon and Jac van Steen.

Wolfgang Helbich was a German church musician, a choral conductor and academic. He was the founder of the Alsfelder Vokalensemble and served as their conductor for decades, a group that toured internationally and received awards for their recordings. After retiring as a church musician, he also conducted the Bremer RathsChor.

Marko Letonja is a Slovenian conductor.

Stanislav Khegai is a Kazakhstani classical pianist. He is the winner of the 2014 European Piano Contest Bremen and the prizewinner of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels and the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich. He was awarded with second prize at the III. International Scriabin Piano Competition in Moscow and Grand-Prix at the International Piano Competition of Central Asia. He received the Arirang Prize and statuette of Koreans of Kazakhstan in 2006.

Werner Gustav Rudolf Gößling was a German conductor, Choir director, composer and university lecturer. He was chief conductor of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle and the Robert Franz Singakademie in Halle. In 1951, he was appointed General Music Director. From 1956 to 1958, he built up the first Chinese symphony orchestra in the European style.

Stuttgarter Philharmoniker German orchestra

The Stuttgarter Philharmoniker is the symphony orchestra of Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1924, they play regular concert series including youth concerts in Stuttgart, as well as guest concerts internationally.

Hellmut Schnackenburg was a German conductor and director of music.

Franz-Josef Kupczyk German violinist

Franz-Josef Kupczyk was a German violinist and soloist. Since 1957 he was 1st concertmaster of the Bremer Philharmoniker and at the Theater Bremen at Goetheplatz.

Klaus Bernbacher is a German conductor, music event manager, broadcasting manager and academic teacher. He co-founded the Tage der Neuen Musik Hannover, a festival for contemporary music, in 1958. He was manager for the broadcaster Radio Bremen from 1962. In Bremen, he was also a cultural politician, a member of the Bremische Bürgerschaft, and an honorary professor at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen.

Wilhelm Friedrich Riem was a German composer and conductor.

Karl Panzner was a German conductor and musikdirektor in Düsseldorf.

Barbara Grobien is a German patron, golf player, chairwoman of the Bremer Philharmoniker, and honorary citizen of Bremen.

Klassische Philharmonie Bonn German symphony orchestra

Klassische Philharmonie Bonn is a German touring symphony orchestra, based in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded by Heribert Beissel in 1986, derived from the Chur Cölnisches Orchester that he had founded in 1959 to perform music played at the Bonn court of the Electors of Cologne. Beissel conducted the orchestra until his death in 2021. They have played a concert series Wiener Klassik at twelve concerts halls in Germany regularly, and also toured in Europe, the U.S. and Japan.

References

  1. ↑ Hetscher, Iris (7 November 2020). "Bremer Philharmoniker sind "Orchester des Wandels" – Kultur in Bremen: Aktuelle Nachrichten". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  2. ↑ WELT (20 September 2018). "Generalmusikdirektor der Bremer Philharmoniker publikumsnah". DIE WELT. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "RONDO – Das Klassik & Jazz Magazin". www.rondomagazin.de. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Wilke, Simon (22 November 2020). "Ein digitaler Weihnachtsgruß der Bremer Philhamoniker aus der Glocke – Kultur in Bremen: Aktuelle Nachrichten". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "Marko Letonja wird GMD der Bremer Philharmoniker". MUSIK HEUTE (in German). 16 June 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Musikwerkstatt der Bremer Philharmoniker". kinderzeit-bremen.de (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  7. ↑ lifePR (c) 2002–2020. "Alles unter einem Hut: Bremer Philharmoniker stellen die Konzertsaison 2020/2021 vor, Pressemitteilung – lifePR". www.lifepr.de (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  8. ↑ Hetscher, Iris (7 October 2019). "Höchst lebendige Musikgeschichte – Kultur in Bremen: Aktuelle Nachrichten". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Bremer Philharmoniker". bremen.de (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  10. ↑ WFB (7 May 2020). "musikalisch in der Champions League". Musikfest Bremen (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Philharmonische Gesellschaft Bremen und Bremer Philharmoniker". Universität Bremen (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.