Philharmonic Choir Berlin
| Philharmonic Choir Berlin | |
|---|---|
| Seat: | Berlin / Germany |
| Founding: | 05.12. 1882 |
| Genus: | mixed choir |
| Founder: | Siegfried Ochs |
| Head : | Jörg-Peter Weigle |
| Voices : | 102 (SATB) |
| Website : | http://www.philharmonischer-chor.de |
The Berlin Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1882 by Siegfried Ochs as the “Siegfried Ochs'scher Gesangsverein ”. He held his first independent concert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (now the Berlin Philharmonic ) and renamed himself the Berlin Philharmonic Choir in 1887.
After 37 years under the influence of Ochs, Otto Klemperer took over the artistic direction of the choir from 1929 to 1933 . This was followed by Carl Schuricht (until 1935), Günther Ramin (until 1943) and, from 1943 until his death in 1981, the composer and conductor Hans Chemin-Petit . From 1982 to 2002 the choir was directed by Uwe Gronostay .
Jörg-Peter Weigle has been artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir since 2003 .
Artistic orientation
The Berlin Philharmonic Choir is one of the most renowned and traditional oratorio choirs in Germany. Founded in 1882 by Siegfried Ochs and directed until 1929, the choir was in the following decades under the direction of Otto Klemperer, Carl Schuricht, Günther Ramin, Hans Chemin-Petit and Uwe Gronostay. Since the 2003/2004 season, the artistic direction of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir has been in the hands of Jörg-Peter Weigle.
In the course of its 130-year history, the Berlin Philharmonic Choir has always been committed to the full spectrum of oratorio literature, so that in addition to the standard works, the unknown, unusual and new always appeared in its concert programs. Numerous works that are now standard literature were premiered or premiered for Germany by the Berlin Philharmonic Choir. B. Anton Bruckner's 'Te Deum', 'Das klagende Lied' by Gustav Mahler , 'Der Feuerreiter' by Hugo Wolf , 'Das Unaufnahmliche' by Paul Hindemith as well as works by Reger , Honegger , David, Chemin-Petit and HW Zimmermann. In 2008 this tradition was resumed with the world premiere of Bernd Franke's composition 'Miletus'. Furthermore, the choir took its 125th anniversary as an opportunity to face its social and cultural-political obligations as a first-rate cultural institution. With topics such as youth work, the promotion of young talent and the networking of the European choir in theory and practice through conferences and cooperation, the choir wants to do more justice to its educational mandate.
As in the first decades of its existence, in which Siegfried Ochs prepared the Berlin Philharmonic Choir for concerts under conductors such as Hans von Bülow , Richard Strauss or Arthur Nikisch , he was and is repeatedly performed by the Berlin orchestras that play in the Philharmonie and in the Concert house, invited to collaborate and was partner of conductors such as Claudio Abbado , Riccardo Chailly , Vladimir Ashkenazy , Kent Nagano and Michael Schønwandt . Also Gerd Albrecht , Claus Peter Flor , Lord Yehudi Menuhin , Antal Dorati and Eric Ericson have enjoyed working with the Berlin Philharmonic Choir. Radio, television and CD productions, concerts in Vienna and Frankfurt am Main under Claudio Abbado, in Copenhagen under Leif Segerstam, in Amsterdam under Uwe Gronostay and in Salisbury under Uwe Gronostay and David Halls, in London's St. Paul's Cathedral under Sir David Willcocks, in Hanoi / Vietnam under Jonas Alber, in Merseburg, Halle and Neubrandenburg and at the turn of the year 2012/13 in Shenzhen / China under Jörg-Peter Weigle and Christian Ehwald complete the picture.
With his first concert as Artistic Director of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir in November 2003, Jörg-Peter Weigle showed that he too wanted to expand the repertoire both for the choir itself and for its audience. The rerun of Georg Schumann's oratorio 'Ruth' after more than fifty years caught the attention far beyond Berlin, Robert Schumann's 'Scenes from Goethe's Faust' could be performed for the first time in the history of the choir, and Hector Berlioz's Requiem was almost 100 years old -year-year break again included in the repertoire of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir. Following on from his predecessors, in particular Siegfried Ochs, Hans Chemin-Petit and Uwe Gronostay, who repeatedly confronted their listeners with new works and "excavations" of forgotten music, Jörg-Peter Weigle is always curious about further discoveries and the almost ten year old The collaboration between the Philharmonic Choir Berlin and him presents itself as a fascinatingly diverse cross-section through the history of choral symphonies.
literature
- Habakuk Traber: “Departure as a motto. 125 years of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir ” . 334 pages with 118 illustrations, CD, 60 min. Running time. ISBN 978-3-86650-703-6
- Marianne Buder, Dorette Gonschorek (ed.): “Tradition without Schlendrian.” 100 years of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir. 1882-1982. Stapp, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-87776-509-2
- Martin Stappenbeck: Chronicle of the Philharmonic Choir in Berlin 1882-1932; to celebrate its 50th anniversary, December 5, 1932 . Berlin 1932
- Board of Directors of the Philharmonic Choir (Ed.): Report on the association years 1907-1910 . Buchdruckerei Otto Lange, Berlin, 53 pages
- Sternfeld, Richard (Hrsg.): Chronicle of the Philharmonic Choir in Berlin. At his 25th year. Exist u. Dedicated to his conductor Siegfried Ochs. Berlin 1907.