Abaco orchestra
| Abaco orchestra | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Symphony orchestra |
| founding | 1988 |
| Website | http://www.abaco-orchester.de |
| Current occupation | |
conductor |
Vitali Alekseenok (since 2018) |
Musician |
depending on the work over 100 |
The Abaco Orchestra is a symphony orchestra at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich .
The orchestra
The Abaco Orchestra was created in 1988 on the initiative of three students who wanted to create an opportunity for students from all faculties to play classical music at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich (LMU) .
The orchestra took its name from the Italian composer Evaristo Dall'Abaco , who was concertmaster at Max Emanuel's court in 1724 and who had spent most of his life in Munich.
The orchestra is made up of over 100 music enthusiasts. Students from various disciplines and young professionals play classical music together with high standards. The average age is around 25 years and at the beginning of each semester the orchestra undergoes a rejuvenation cure with new musicians.
A special feature of the orchestra from the start is that important decisions are made democratically. There is regular voting on the works to be played as well as on conductors.
History and conductors
The Abaco Orchestra began as a pure string orchestra under its first conductor and co-founder Thomas Mandl , who studied with Sergiu Celibidache .
In 1991, the Englishman Julian Gibbons took over the orchestra, which had grown into a full symphony orchestra in the 1990/91 winter semester . After Julian Gibbons switched to Basel to continue his studies , the Greek Georgios Vranos was elected conductor of the orchestra for the 1994 summer semester . Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 ( From the New World ) , Beethoven's 7th and Brahms' 3rd symphonies have now been played .
Alexander Liebreich has led the Abaco Orchestra since summer 1995 . Under his direction, Schubert's Unfinished , Tchaikovsky's Pathétique , Elgar's Enigma Variations , Mahler's Symphony No. 1 and Mendelssohn's incidental music for Midsummer Night's Dream were performed with great success. The baritone Christian Gerhaher performed as a soloist in Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at the beginning of 1996, two years before his international debut . Alexander Liebreich left the orchestra in the summer of 1997 to continue his conducting career in Holland.
His successor was Alex Briger , who went on concert tours to Paris and Lausanne and u. a. studied demanding works such as the Four Sea Interludes by Benjamin Britten, the first symphony by Johannes Brahms and the fourth symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. As early as the summer of 1999, Alex Briger was so in demand in Sydney and London that he was unable to continue leading the Abaco Orchestra.
From summer 1999 Markus Poschner led the Abaco Orchestra, which refined the orchestra's sound and expanded the repertoire considerably. Under his direction z. B. performed the last four songs by Richard Strauss , the fifth symphonies by Gustav Mahler , Dmitri Schostakowitsch and Ludwig van Beethoven as well as the violin concertos by Alban Berg , Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven, but also rarely performed works of the 20th century. Century like the six pieces for orchestra by Anton Webern or the Capriccio for orchestra by Gottfried von Eine .
In the summer semester of 2004, Volker Hiemeyer took over the direction of the Abaco Orchestra. The studied conductor and concert pianist made a trip to Prague and two guest appearances at the Starnberger Musiktage with the Abaco. In autumn 2005 he left the orchestra to take up his new position at the Theater Aachen .
From the 2005 winter semester onwards, Olivier Tardy conducted the Abaco Orchestra. He is full-time solo flutist at the Bavarian State Opera . In addition to the concerts in Munich, he made two trips with the orchestra to the MúsicaMallorca festival .
Ekkehard Hauenstein took over the orchestra in the 2008/2009 winter semester and from the 2009/2010 winter semester . He was the first - and so far only - conductor who was not confirmed by the orchestra and thus left the orchestra in October 2010.
In the 2010/2011 winter semester, the Abaco Orchestra and the Cantus Domus choir from Berlin performed a joint project called Das klagende Lied for orchestra, distant orchestra, choir and soloists by Gustav Mahler in Berlin and Munich. The concerts were sponsored by Klaus Wowereit , Governing Mayor of Berlin, and Christian Ude , Lord Mayor of Munich. The two performances took place in the Berlin Konzerthaus on February 26, 2011 and in the Herkulessaal in Munich on March 5, 2011 under the direction of Ralf Sochaczewsky .
In the summer semester 2011 Joseph Bastian took over the orchestra as conductor. Bastian was a full-time bass trombonist in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra , but made his debut as a conductor there in 2016. The engagement increased under Bastian, 3–4 programs were performed per year. Travels led u. a. the ensemble traveled to France and for a world premiere by Jean-François Michel in October 2013 to Friborg and Gruyère, Switzerland. In the 2014/2015 winter semester, the Abaco Orchestra attracted great public interest, as it financed the rental costs for the Philharmonie im Gasteig through a crowdfunding campaign. With 419 participants, the performance of Mahler's 2nd Symphony, with well-known soloists such as Lydia Teuscher , soprano, and Tara Erraught , mezzo-soprano, as well as the Ensemble MünchenKlang in the sold-out hall with 2200 visitors, was a special experience for musicians and audience. Mariss Jansons was the patron .
In 2016, Prokofiev's 5th Symphony was recorded and released, the first CD in the orchestra's history.
On October 1, 2017, the ensemble made its first guest appearance in the Great Hall of the Wiener Musikverein .
After the concert with Mahler's 5th Symphony in February 2018, Joseph Bastian passed the baton on to Vitali Aleksenook . He has been leading the Abaco Orchestra since April 2018 and gave his first concert with the orchestra in July of the same year.
Remarks
Chamber music has always excited the members of the Abaco Orchestra and has always had a high priority alongside the regular tutti rehearsals. The joy of making music as a soloist in smaller ensembles has meanwhile established the Münchner Blechreiz , the chamber orchestra L'Estro , as well as other quartets and quintets.