Royal Chapel Copenhagen
Royal Chapel Copenhagen | |
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The opera in summer 2014 |
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General information | |
Genre (s) | Classical music , opera , ballet |
founding | 1448 as trumpeter corps Christian I. |
Website | http://theworldsoldestorchestra.com/ |
The Royal Chapel Copenhagen , Danish Det Kongelige Kapel ( English The Royal Danish Orchestra ) is a leading symphony orchestra . It is the oldest orchestra in the world and the largest Danish orchestra with 120 musicians .
The orchestra, which has existed since 1448, is based in Copenhagen . It plays opera and concerts both in one of the most modern opera houses in the world, the Royal Opera ( Danish Operaen ) on the island of Holmen in Copenhagen and in the Old Opera House, which was opened in this form after the example of the Opéra Garnier in Paris in 1874. Both houses are the Danish National Opera . Institutionally, the orchestra is part of the Royal Theater .
history
The oldest orchestra in the world was initially founded by King Christian I as a trumpet corps. Christian IV hired the famous lutenist and composer John Dowland (member No. 140) for his court music and he composed important works for the court. This king also sent his choristers to Venice for training with Giovanni Gabrieli . In 1634 he received - because of his marriage to the Saxon Princess Magdalena Sibylla - Heinrich Schütz (No. 259) as Kapellmeister and court composer as a "loan" from the Saxon King Johann Georg I. According to Schütz 'own words, he composed "some of his best pieces" for the King of Denmark.
1665 can be seen as a turning point in court music, when Friedrich III. hired the French violinist Pascal Bansse (No. 308) to modernize the chapel. The first independent opera house in Sophie Amalienborg burned down when it opened in 1689, and the new King Frederick IV decided in 1699 to have his fortress builder Dominicus Pelli build a new house in Bredgade . This went hand in hand with the substantial expansion of the orchestra around 1700. As the Dresden court music director Johann Gottlieb Naumann (No. 432) came to Copenhagen in 1786. He not only cultivated the predominant French music, but also put on the program alongside his own Italian music and was the first to consistently promote Danish musicians in the “Chapel of Lands Children”. He expanded the orchestra to the then unusual size of 45 musicians and founded the opera choir as a permanent ensemble. A separate orchestra school was founded around 1790, which became a model for many other orchestras in Europe. Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (No. 455) came to Copenhagen in 1787 as a conductor and court composer. In the eight years of its activity, Copenhagen finally grew to become the leading music city in Europe. In Schulz's time, the devastating fire of Christiansborg Palace in 1794, in which a large part of the music library and numerous instruments fell victim to the flames. Schulz and the clarinetist Joseph Rauch (No. 418) saved what they could. The castle fell victim to fires again in 1828 and 1884.
The opera Holger Danske by Friedrich Ludwig Æmilius Kunzen (No. 473) triggered a (verbal) revolution against German domination. Independently of this, the Allgemeine musical newspaper stated in 1815 about the Royal Chapel that it is "one of the best orchestras in Europe". The first conductor of the Royal Chapel who no longer conducted with the violin bow but with the baton was Claus Schall (No. 422). He fought for the orchestra to be independent. Composers like Christoph Willibald Gluck and Franz Xaver Neruda were drawn to Copenhagen. Mozart's widow wrote: “As far as the orchestra is concerned, Mozart's works are nowhere better performed than in this capital”. Holger Simon Pauli (No. 551) brought the first Wagner operas to Copenhagen: Lohengrin in 1870 , Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1872 and Tannhäuser in 1875 . Egisto Tango , who previously worked at Scala and the MET, brought the orchestra back to the center of music since he took office in 1931.
Many great musicians of their time were drawn to Copenhagen. Carl Maria von Weber had his Freischütz overture premiered here, as he preferred the quality of the Royal Chapel in Copenhagen to the Berlin court orchestra. Composers such as Niels Wilhelm Gade and Carl Nielsen (was a member for 16 years), as well as the composer of the famous romance Johan Svendsen , come from this orchestra. Jean Sibelius conducted the orchestra, as did Arnold Schönberg and Igor Stravinsky . The orchestra has had its own series of symphony concerts since 1788.
The members of the orchestra have been using the title "Königlicher Kapellmusicus" since 1842. All orchestra members and conductors are therefore also employees of the royal court. A list of all musicians goes back to the founding year 1448. Over 1,060 musicians have now been entered on this list. King Frederik IX conducted the orchestra herself and Queen Margrethe II is now often a guest of this orchestra, which owes its special sound to the continuation of a great tradition and also to a unique fund of valuable old Italian string instruments that today form the sound foundation of the orchestra. Among them are two Stradivari : the “Yoldi Moldenhauer” (1714) and the “Red Cross Knight” (1691).
Tours
The orchestra celebrated success on tours in Australia, the Baltic Republics, Germany, England, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, and the USA.
Conductors
- Heinrich Schütz
- Johann Gottlieb Naumann
- Johann Abraham Peter Schulz
- Friedrich Ludwig Æmilius Kunzen
- Claus Schall
- Niels Gade
- Holger Simon Paulli
- Johan Svendsen (1883–1908)
- Frederik Rung
- Carl Nielsen
- Georg Høeberg (1914–1930) and Johan Hye-Knudsen
- Egisto Tango (1931-1946)
- John Frandsen (1946–1980)
- Poul Jørgensen (1980-1993)
- Paavo Berglund (1993–1998)
- Woldemar Nelson (1998-2000)
- Michael Schønwandt (2000-2011)
- Michael Boder (2012-2016)
- Alexander Vedernikov (since 2018)
Ballet conductor
Important guest conductors
- Carl Maria von Weber
- Jean Sibelius
- Richard Strauss
- Leopold Stokowski
- Arnold Schoenberg
- Bruno Walter
- Hans Knappertsbusch
- Wilhelm Furtwängler
- Pierre Monteux
- Carl Schuricht
- Igor Stravinsky
- Otto Klemperer
- Erich Kleiber
- Fritz Busch
- Charles Munch
- Karl Bohm
- John Barbirolli
- Herbert von Karajan
- Sergiu Celibidache , received a high Danish award for his many years of work with the orchestra, which also included tours.
- Igor Markevitch
- Georg Solti
- Rafael Kubelík
- Ferenc Fricsay
- Leonard Bernstein , stood up especially for Carl Nielsen and recorded his 3rd symphony with the Royal Orchestra on record.
- Pierre Boulez
- Charles Mackerras
- Kurt Masur
- Christoph von Dohnányi
- André Previn
- Giuseppe Patané
- Daniel Barenboim
- Claudio Abbado
- Marek Janowski
- Hartmut Haenchen
- Leif Segerstam
- Michael Tilson Thomas
- Simon Rattle
- Bertrand de Billy
- Andris Nelsons
Honorary members of the Royal Chapel
- Edwin Fischer
- AW Nielsen
- Sven Wilhelm Hansen
- Igor Markevitch
- Sergiu Celibidache
- Hanne Wilhelm Hansen
- Henning Rohde
- Peter Augustine
- Danny Kaye
- Victor Borge
- Leif Juul Jørgensen
CD / DVD (selection)
- The Royal Chapel from 1907–1954. Recordings with Egisto Tango, King Frederik IX, Nikolaj Malko, Pierino Gamba, Edwin Fischer , Georg Höberg, John Frandsen, Otto Klemperer . Dacapo
- Otto Klemperer conducts Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 , Leonore Overture No. 3, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 29 , Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 , Testament
- Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto with Nicola Gedda
- Johan Ludvig Heiber: Nei - Vaudeville
- Leonard Bernstein conducts Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 3
- Paavo Berglund conducts: The symphonies of Carl Nielsen, RCA
- George Richter conducts Bedřich Smetana: My fatherland , Tuxedo
- Michael Schønwandt conducts Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse : Symphonies 1–3
- Michael Schønwandt conducts Richard Wagner: The Ring of the Nibelung
- Hartmut Haenchen conducts Anton Bruckner : Symphony No. 8, Genuin
Varia
Many musicians in the Royal Band take care of the training of the next generation of musicians and organize numerous musical activities for children. Major chamber music ensembles have emerged from the ranks of the Royal Chapel: in 1892 the Vikkelsöe string quintet, in 1909 the brass quartet "Ramsøe" was founded, since 1903 the wind quintet, in 1924 the Thorvald Nielsen quartet was founded. 1935 the Carlo Andersen Quartet, 1943 the Chamber Quintet, 1945 the Koppel Quartet, 1950 the Danish Quartet, 1956 the Royal Wind Instruments Quintet, 1957 the Copenhagen String Quartet, 1973 the Dania Quartet, 1974 the "Violon Band" on historical instruments, The Royal Danish Brass was formed in 1977, the Copenhagen Chamber Trio in 1979, the Arild Quartet in 2008 and the Royal Danish Percussion Group in 2014. Mette Hanskov, double bass player in the Royal Orchestra, founded an audience orchestra with members aged 12–99.
literature
- Troels Svendsen and Morgens Andresen: Royal Danish Orchestra - The World's Oldest Orchestral Institution. Gads Forlag, 2014, ISBN 978-87-12-05053-7
- Axel Kjerulf, Kongelig Majestæts Musikanter. Boghallen, 1952.
- Kyle J. Dzapo: Joachim Andersen: A Bio-Bibliography (Bio-Bibliographies in Music). Greenwood, 1999, ISBN 978-03-13-30889-5
Web links
- Troels Svendsen: The oldest orchestra in the world in the most beautiful concert hall in the world. ( Memento from March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Magazine of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, November 2002
- Exemplary chapel. In: Morgenblatt für educated readers from May 1817, Volume 11, p. 588
- Marianne Zelger-Vogt: Twice the turning point. Strauss' “Elektra” in the new Copenhagen Opera House. In: NZZ . February 23, 2005, accessed August 18, 2015 .
- LULU - Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Teater. Review of Operapoint of 25 November 2015. Accessed August 18, 2015.
- Panorama view of the old stage on downol.dr.dk. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ^ Double appointment at the Royal Danish Opera. Gramophone on May 22, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ Katy Wright: Royal Danish Opera appoints Alexander Vedernikov as chief conductor. In: Rhinegold. November 25, 2016 (English).