MDR radio choir

MDR radio choir
Seat:	Leipzig / Germany
Carrier:	Central German radio
Founding:	1946
Genus:	mixed choir
Founder:	Heinrich Werlé
Head :	Philipp Ahmann
Voices :	73 ( SATB )
Website :	www.mdr.de/konzerte/rundfunkchor

The MDR radio choir is the largest and oldest radio choir of the ARD , based in Leipzig . He is considered one of the leading choirs in Europe. It has had its current name since the founding of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and the simultaneous takeover of the choir in 1992. The choir was largely shaped by its decades-long director Herbert Kegel and regular collaboration with the MDR symphony orchestra .

history

The origins of the MDR radio choir go back to the Leipzig Oratorio Association . It appeared for the first time on December 14, 1924 in a broadcast of the Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk AG (MIRAG) with Haydn's Creation under Alfred Szendrei . In 1931 there was a broadcast with the Leipzig Soloist Choir for the first time . At the same time, the Leipzig Oratorio Association performed for the last time.

On July 1, 1934, the Leipzig Soloist Choir was renamed the Chamber Choir or later the Choir of the Reich Broadcasting Corporation Leipzig . In 1934, the future choir director Heinrich Werlé appeared frequently as a guest conductor . Curt Kretzschmar was the choirmaster from 1935 to 1940 . The first surviving recordings have survived from 1937: a cappella recording with folk songs and radio recording of Marie ’s aria from Donizetti's La fille du régiment under Curt Kretzschmar. In 1940/41 Friedbert Collector was the director of the choir. In May 1941 the choir was delegated to the Reichsender München . At the end of 1942 it was dissolved. Fourteen former choir members were accepted into the Bruckner Choir St. Florian of Großdeutscher Rundfunk from 1943 to 1945 . This was set up by Thomas Cantor Günther Ramin and transferred to Linz in 1944.

After the Second World War , in autumn 1946, Horst Karl Hessel first became choirmaster. On August 1, 1946, the soloists' association was taken over by the Central German Radio as the chamber choir of the Leipzig station . On May 1st, Heinrich Werlé conducted two concerts by the choir. This initially consisted of 27 male and female singers. In 1949 Herbert Kegel became choirmaster. He was supported from 1952 by Dietrich Knothe (dismissed for political reasons in October 1962), who was intended primarily for a cappella works and rehearsals. The concert tour through Scandinavia (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) in October 1957 marked the international breakthrough of the choir. In the same year the choir made a guest appearance in the CSSR . In 1964 Horst Neumann was hired as a guest conductor; from 1967 to 1978 and thus as successor to Armin Oeser he was choirmaster. From 1969 the choir gave concerts for students. From 1978 to 1980 the choir had three interim conductors: Jochen Wehner , Gerhard Richter and Gert Frischmuth . In 1980 Jörg-Peter Weigle took over the choir direction and from 1985 the chief conductor. In 1982 the choir and the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra performed under Wolf-Dieter Hauschild in Japan . Gert Frischmuth became chief conductor in 1988 and choir director from 1992. The choir was the first orchestra in the GDR to perform in Israel in January 1989 under Kurt Masur .

When the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) was founded in January 1992, the radio choir was taken over as the MDR choir. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the choir gave an anniversary concert in 1996. In 1998 the Briton Howard Arman took over the post of choir director. In 2004 the a cappella concert series Nachtgesang was set up in the Evangelical Lutheran St. Peter's Church in Leipzig. Between 2008 and 2014 the choir made several trips to Qatar . Guest appearances in France , Italy , Monaco and Switzerland followed . In the 2013/14 season Philipp Ahmann became the first guest conductor. In 2015 the Estonian Risto Joost took over the artistic direction of the choir.

The MDR radio choir has an extensive repertoire (a cappella, choral symphonic works, ensemble singing, secular and sacred music ). He has also emerged as a special ensemble for new music with numerous world premieres and premieres. a. Boris Blacher , Thomas Buchholz , Thomas Bürkholz , Alan Bush , Jean-Luc Darbellay , Paul Dessau , Paul-Heinz Dittrich , Hanns Eisler , Fritz Geißler , Sofia Gubaidulina , Hans Werner Henze , Günter Kochan , Marek Kopelent , Wilfried Krätzschmar , Ernst Hermann Meyer , Günter Neubert , Krzysztof Penderecki , Rudolf Wagner-Régeny , Gerhard Rosenfeld , Friedrich Schenker , Kurt Schwaen , Siegfried Thiele , Carlos Veerhoff and Udo Zimmermann . Over 200 recordings have been released so far. The choir performed a. a. at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence , the Dresden Music Festival , the Proms in London, the Salzburg Festival and the Vienna Festival . Conductors such as Claudio Abbado , Karl Böhm , Riccardo Chailly , Sir Colin Davis , Bernard Haitink , Herbert von Karajan , James Levine , Lorin Maazel , Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner , Riccardo Muti , Roger Norrington , Seiji Ozawa , Georges Prêtre , Sir Simon Rattle and Wolfgang Sawallisch already conducted the orchestra. In addition to regular collaboration, in particular with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Gewandhaus Orchestra , the choir has performed repeatedly with the Dresden State Orchestra , the Dresden Philharmonic and the Weimar State Orchestra .

Choirmaster

• Heinrich Werlé (1946)
• Horst Karl Hessel (1947–1948)
• Herbert Kegel (1949–1978)
• Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (1978–1980)
• Jörg-Peter Weigle (1980–1988)
• Gert Frischmuth (1988–1998)
• Howard Arman (1998–2013) - honorary conductor since 2019
• Risto Joost (2015-2019)
• Philipp Ahmann (from 2020)

Awards

• 19 ??: Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze
• 1969: Record Prize ( Music and Society ) for Benjamin Britten , War Requiem op.66
• 19 ??: Grand Prix du Disque ( Charles Cros Academy ) for Carl Orff , Trionfi
• 1977: Gerhart Eisler badge in gold
• 1984: Art Prize of the City of Leipzig
• 1993: Gramophone Classical Music Award for Mendelssohn's Elias
• 2002: ECHO Klassik (Category: Choral Work of the Year) for: Sergei Rachmaninow , Vespers op.37
• 2002: Gramophone Classical Music Award (Choral) for Schönberg's Gurrelieder
• 2005: ECHO Klassik (Category: Choral works from the 17th / 18th century) for: Carl Heinrich Graun , Der Tod Jesu
• 2006: Supersonic Award ( Pizzicato ) for Ludwig van Beethoven , Mass in C major
• 2007: Best list 4/2007 of the German Record Critics' Prize (Category: Choral Works) for: Arnold Schönberg , Gurre-Lieder
• 2008: Midem Classical Award for: Arnold Schönberg, Gurre-Lieder
• 2008: Nomination for a Grammy for: Arnold Schönberg, Gurre-Lieder
• 2013: European Culture Prize
• 2017: Best list 4/2017 of the German Record Critics' Prize (category: orchestral music) for Ludwig van Beethoven, symphonies
• 2017: International Classical Music Awards (Category: Choral Music) for: Max Reger Motetten op.110
• 2018: Diapason d'or for Sergei Rachmaninov, Vespers op.37

literature

• Alain Pâris: Classical music in the 20th century: instrumentalists, singers, conductors, orchestras, choirs . 2nd expanded, completely revised edition, dtv, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-423-32501-1 , p. 919.

Web links

Commons : MDR Rundfunkchor  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of the MDR radio choir
• Choir history on the website of the friends and sponsors of the MDR-Rundfunkchor Leipzig
• Chronicle of the Leipzig Radio Choir (1924–1933) on rundfunkschaetze.de
• Works by and about MDR radio choir in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Rundfunkchor Leipzig (1945–1991) in the catalog of the German National Library
• Rundfunkchor Leipzig with Bach Cantatas (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Jörg Clemen, Steffen Lieberwirth: Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. The history of the symphony orchestra . Verlag Klaus-Jürgen Kamprad, Altenburg 1999, ISBN 3-930550-09-1 , p. 185 ff.
2. ^ Gerhard Walther: The radio in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. Federal Ministry for All German Issues, Bonn / Berlin 1961, p. 80.
3. ^ Jörg Clemen, Steffen Lieberwirth: Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. The history of the symphony orchestra. Verlag Klaus-Jürgen Kamprad, Altenburg 1999, ISBN 3-930550-09-1 , p. 129.
4. ↑ Musik und Gesellschaft 27 (1977), p. 701.