Harzburger Musiktage | |
---|---|
Genre | mostly classical music |
Begins | June |
Frequency | annual |
Location(s) | Bad Harzburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, various venues there and in the region |
Inaugurated | 1970 |
People | |
Website | www |
Harzburger Musiktage (Harzburg Music Days) is an annual festival of classical music in Bad Harzburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 1970 by Luz Leskowitz who was its artistic director until 2005. The third-oldest classical music festival in Lower Saxony, it features mostly chamber music with international performers.
Bad Harzburg was a spa town from 1892, attracting an international clientele. [1] The Harzburger Musiktage festival was founded there in 1970 by the violinist Luz Leskowitz from Salzburg, [2] [3] after the model of the Menuhin Festival Gstaad. [2] He played with colleagues, including members of the Berlin Philharmonic and Wiener Philharmoniker, such as cellists Wolfgang Boettcher and Eberhard Finke , double bassist Ludwig Streicher, violist Ernst Wallfisch and his wife, pianist Lory Wallfisch. [4] Leskowitz founded his own ensemble, the Salzburger Solisten (Salzburg Soloists) who gave their founding concert at the Kaiserpfalz Goslar as part of the 1979 festival. [2]
In 1988, the concert series received recognition as an international festival. [5] The annual festival has offered six to eight concerts in June. In the beginning, concerts were given in the old Casino, now the Kurhaus. Additional venues include the Lutherkirche in Bad Harzburg, the Kaiserpfalz Goslar and the Rittersaal of Schloss Bündheim . [5] From 1988, the festival often had a regional motto, beginning with Dänemark zu Gast (Denmark visiting), followed on a focus on music from France, Austria, Dresden, Berlin and Hamburg. [5] In 1989, the Ensemble Wien-Berlin gave its first public concert in Bad Harzburg. [5] Founder Leskowitz was artistic director until 2005. It is the third-oldest classical music festival in Lower Saxony. [6]
Since its beginning, world-renowned soloists, ensembles and orchestras have performed at the Harzburger Musiktage. Another focus are young performers, such as recipients of prizes at Jugend musiziert and other competitions. [5]
In 2018, the festival featured a symphony concert in the Kursaal, with the Russian Chamber Philharmonic St. Petersburg conducted by Juri Gilbo, with David Geringas as the soloist in Dvořáks Cello Concerto. A series "Junge FestivalFans" offered programs for children and young listeners. [7] The program for the 50th festival was more expanded, with soprano Simone Kermes, pianist Francesco Piemontesi, and the NDR Radiophilharmonie conducted by Andrew Manze, among others. [6]
On 1 July 1972, the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Harzburger Musiktage (Society for the support of Harzburger Musiktage) was founded. [8] It helps financing the festival by contributions from its around 240 members as well as donations and funds from the state, the city, the spa [5] and the broadcaster NDR. [1] Until the German reunification in 1990, the festival was sponsored also by the Zonenrandförderung promoting regions near the border within Germany, Zonenrand . After the unification, the Society approached cultural foundations and companies to support the festival, to maintain its high standards. [5]
Goslar is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Each year Goslar awards the Kaiserring to an international artist, called the "Nobel Prize" of the art world.
Bad Harzburg is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa and climatic health resort.
Peter Ritzen is a Flemish pianist composer and conductor.
The state school Werner-von-Siemens-Gymnasium in the district of Goslar is one of three high schools in Bad Harzburg. Pupils do not only come from Bad Harzburg, but also from the city of Vienenburg and Goslar. Pupils from Year 5 / age 10 visit the school. It is named after the inventor Werner von Siemens.
Luz Leskowitz is an Austrian violinist, founder of the Salzburg Soloists music ensemble. He is an owner of the ex-Prihoda Stradivarius violin made in 1707.
Bad Harzburg railway station serves the spa town of Bad Harzburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the southern terminus of the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway, one of the oldest lines in Germany, and the eastern terminus of a branch line to nearby Oker station. Regional rail services are operated by Deutsche Bahn AG and Erixx GmbH.
Carolin Widmann is a German classical violinist. The sister of composer and clarinetist Jörg Widmann, she focuses mainly on contemporary music. She plays a violin made in 1782 by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.
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Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker is the name of a traditional international festival of classical chamber music in Hitzacker, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1946, it is held annually for nine days beginning with the last weekend in July.
Ralf Otto is a German conductor, especially known as a choral conductor and academic teacher. He founded the Vokalensemble Frankfurt, focused on contemporary music and winning competitions including Let the Peoples Sing. Since 1986, he has been director of the Bachchor Mainz, with a tradition of performing Bach cantatas in broadcast church services. He added late romantic and contemporary works to their repertoire and made international tours with them. They made world premiere recordings of some cantatas by Bach's oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, among other recordings. Otto was professor of choral conducting at the Folkwang Hochschule from 1990 to 2006, when he took the same position at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz.
Cornelia Herrmann is an Austrian pianist.
Bettingerode is a village that forms a municipal district of Bad Harzburg in the district of Goslar in Lower Saxony. As of June 30, 2018, Bettingerode had a population of 438.
Schlewecke, in Oker dialect: Sleiwecke is a suburb that forms a municipial district of Bad Harzburg in the district of Goslar in Lower Saxony, Germany. As of June 30, 2018, Bündheim had a population of 1,753.
Wolfgang Boettcher was a German classical cellist and academic teacher. He was principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and a founding member of The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. From 1976, he was professor at the Hochschule für Musik Berlin. From 1986 to 1992 he was artistic director of the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker chamber music festival.
Patrick Hahn is an Austrian conductor, pianist and composer. He was appointed as the General Music Director of the Wuppertaler Bühnen und Sinfonieorchester GmbH, becoming the youngest GMD in Germany, starting in the 2021/22 season.
Kai Rapsch is a German oboist, cor anglais player and entrepreneur.
Christian Dierstein is a German percussionist and academic teacher. He has performed internationally as a soloist and as a regular chamber music player with ensemble recherche and Trio Accanto, performing several world premieres. He has been a professor from 2001, with a focus on music beyond Europe and improvisation.
The Göttinger Symphonie Orchester (GSO) is a symphony orchestra at the University of Göttingen. It was founded in 1862.