Alfred Lessing (musician)

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Alfred Lessing 1992

Alfred Lessing (born September 10, 1930 in Duisburg ; † January 15, 2013 in Düsseldorf ) was a German cellist and gambist . In addition to the cello, he also played the cello piccolo , viola da gamba , arpeggione and baryton .

Life

Lessing began his music studies at the conservatory in his hometown Duisburg. After graduating with the state music teacher examination with a major in cello, he continued his studies at the Cologne University of Music with Adolf Steiner .

1955 Lessing became a member of the symphony orchestra of the city of Duisburg . He was then from 1961 to 1995 cellist with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker ( Deutsche Oper am Rhein ).

As a soloist and in chamber orchestras (including German Bach soloists , Stuttgart Bach Collegium ), Lessing has performed in almost all European countries and has taken part in concert tours to South Africa , Australia , the United States and Japan . He participated in numerous recordings and radio recordings .

From 1953 to 1966 he had a teaching position for viola da gamba at the Conservatory of the City of Duisburg, from 1965 to 1972 at the Folkwang University in Essen. In 1974 he received a teaching position at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf, which he carried out until 1994.

The ensemble “Divertimento da camera” founded and directed by Lessing played mainly as a trio . The focus of the chamber music programs was on Baryton divertimenti by Joseph Haydn .

Alfred Lessing has performed with renowned singers: Lore Fischer , Emmy Lisken, Mechthild Georg, Eva Bornemann, Hanna Schwarz , Marga Höffgen , Julia Hamari , Helmut Krebs , Peter Schreier , Helmut Kretschmar , Christa Ludwig , Theo Adam , Kim Borg , Hermann Prey and Nicolai Gedda .

In connection with the practice of music and instrument studies, Alfred Lessing dealt with the restoration of old musical instruments as well as the production of new ones based on historical models . When Henning Aschauer made the arpeggione to order, Alfred Lessing was able to gain his first experience of violin making through active participation. From 1975 to 2012 he built over 20 instruments himself, including treble, alto and bass viols, cellos, baroque barytons and arpeggione.

Alfred Lessing and Rolf Junghanns on October 17, 1971 in Wasenweiler

Already at the beginning of his musical career he showed a particular interest in historical string instruments and has since performed with viola da gamba , baryton (viola di bordone) and cello piccolo , and from 1970 also with the guitar cello ( arpeggione ). He received essential impulses and support as well as invitations to joint concerts from August Wenzinger and Johannes Koch.

The musical collaboration with Fritz Neumeyer and his student Rolf Junghanns led to the realization of the long-cherished idea of performing the so-called Arpeggione Sonata by Franz Schubert authentically. The public concert at Neumeyer in Wasenweiler on October 17, 1971 was possibly the first original performance since Schubert's time. The interpreters were Lessing on an arpeggione recreated by Henning Aschauer and Junghanns on a historic fortepiano . Another concert with this line-up took place on February 10, 1972 on original instruments from the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum .

Program of the concert on February 10, 1972 in Berlin

On October 14, 1972, a concert was broadcast live, including the Sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano (D821) by Franz Schubert in the WDR night program (with Jörg Demus on the fortepiano). Since then, more than 20 performances of the sonata have followed in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and Italy.

Together with the Belgian pianist Jozef de Beenhouwer Lessing recorded the sonata in 2000, he played a true-to-original arpeggione and Beenhouwer a grand piano made by Conrad Graf in Vienna in 1824 .

Lessing's 70th birthday was celebrated with a symposium (Düsseldorf 2000) and a commemorative publication on the subject of “Viola da gamba, Baryton, Arpeggione” and an exhibition (Düsseldorf 2001).

Web links

References and comments

  1. ^ Sound carrier by Alfred Lessing in the catalog of the German National Library
  2. ↑ a b Henning Aschauer, violin maker from Düsseldorf. 1968 Order to Henning Aschauer to build an arpeggione according to Alfred Lessing's instructions. The model was the instrument that Lessing had discovered in the Bitterer Collection in Stuttgart and that was later acquired by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Collection in Berlin
  3. ↑ a b The original arpeggione owned by the State Institute for Music Research, Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin
  4. ↑ a b Sonata in A minor D821 by Franz Schubert (English)
  5. ↑ Music for Arpeggione by Alfred Lessing in the catalog of the German National Library
  6. ↑ Viola da gamba, Baryton, Arpeggione. Festschrift Alfred Lessing, Düsseldorf 2000, ed. by Bernhard R. Appel and Johannes Boer, Utrecht 2003
personal data
SURNAME Lessing, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cellist and gambist
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Duisburg
DATE OF DEATH January 15, 2013
Place of death Dusseldorf