Staatskapelle Berlin
The Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the leading orchestras in the world and, with a history that has been documented since 1570, is one of the most traditional ensembles. She has resided in the State Opera Unter den Linden since 1742 . The symphony orchestra also plays operas and ballets. In 1997 an orchestra academy was founded.
history
The tradition of a chapel order from 1570 suggests that the "Electoral Court Chapel" existed a long time before that. The tradition of today's orchestra is based on it. In 1684 the orchestra played the first opera performances in a hall of the Berlin City Palace. At the rise of the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich III. the ensemble was renamed the Royal Chapel in 1701 as King in Prussia . At that time it comprised about 30 musicians. After a temporary conversion into a military orchestra, the musicians were merged with the orchestra from Rheinsberg in 1741 by Frederick the Great . This Royal Court Orchestra in Berlin then opened the Linden Opera in 1742 . The most famous musicians at that time were Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Franz Benda members of the court orchestra, which was directed by Johann Joachim Quantz . The musicians of the court orchestra also increasingly shaped the concert life of Berlin. On March 1, 1783, the orchestra gave the first concert for the public in the hall of the Hotel Stadt Paris under Hofkapellmeister Johann Friedrich Reichardt .
In 1811 the Berlin Opera, the National Theater and their orchestra were combined. In 1820 the king appointed Gasparo Spontini, the first general music director. This increased the quality of the orchestra and founded the "Spontini-Fond" for members of the band in need. In 1829 musicians from the royal court orchestra took part in the re-performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" under the direction of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy . With the subsequent general music director Giacomo Meyerbeer , the orchestra's tasks were expanded from 1842 and a regular series of concerts for subscribers began. Destroyed to the ground by a fire in 1843, the Unter den Linden opera house was rebuilt within a year under the direction of Carl Ferdinand Langhans , including a hall with approx. 1800 seats. In the following years the court orchestra took part in a number of world premieres, including Richard Wagner , Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Otto Nicolai , who was appointed court conductor in 1848. Since April 14, 1890, the symphony concerts no longer took place in the Apollo Hall, but in the large Langhan Hall.
Richard Strauss , first court conductor since 1898, became the orchestra's general music director in 1908 , and Leo Blech received this title in 1913 . In the 1920s, Hermann Abendroth , Fritz Busch , Bruno Walter and Wilhelm Furtwängler conducted . In 1923 Erich Kleiber became general music director. In 1934 Furtwängler resigned from his position as opera director, but remained with the house as conductor. Clemens Krauss , Johannes Schüler , Werner Egk conducted during the 1930s. From 1938 onwards Herbert von Karajan directed several opera performances. In 1940 he conducted his first symphony concert with the Staatskapelle before becoming GMD from 1941 to 1945. The first stereo recording was made under his direction in 1944.
The Staatskapelle played their first concert six weeks after the end of the war and opened the first post-war season on June 30, 1945. The first concerts were performed with Wilhelm Furtwängler, Joseph Keilberth , Yehudi Menuhin and Erich Kleiber , among others . The latter called for the reconstruction of the traditional Unter den Linden venue and took over the musical direction of the German State Opera. The Admiralspalast was used as an alternative venue in Berlin until it reopened in 1955 with Richard Wagner's “ Mastersingers of Nuremberg ”. In the same year Franz Konwitschny became GMD. Lovro von Matačić , Horst Stein , Hans Löwlein, Heinz Rögner and Heinz Fricke were also hired as conductors . From 1964 to 1991 Otmar Suitner was the orchestra's chief conductor and the one who also promoted the Staatskapelle's reputation abroad through a lively sound production and touring activity. On December 30, 1991, Daniel Barenboim gave his first concert as the new chief conductor of the orchestra and general music director of the State Opera.
present
Today the Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the leading ensembles in the world. It undertakes concert tours and opera tours to all European music centers, to Japan, China, the Middle East, as well as to North and South America.
The performance of all of Beethoven's symphonies and piano concertos in the 1990s (Vienna, Paris, London, New York, Tokyo), the Schumann / Brahms cycle, etc. a. in Vienna, the Wagner Festival 2002 with ten operas in fourteen days in Berlin, the symphonies and orchestral songs of Gustav Mahler in Vienna / New York in the 2008/2009 season and the Bruckner cycle 2010 in Berlin, 2012 in Vienna and 2016 in Tokyo are expressions of the artistic Performance by the orchestra and its chief conductor Daniel Barenboim.
Kapellmeister such as Richard Strauss , Erich Kleiber , Wilhelm Furtwängler , Herbert von Karajan , Otmar Suitner , Daniel Barenboim , general music director since 1992 and elected chief for life by the orchestra, as well as Zubin Mehta , Sir Simon Rattle , the first guest conductor Michael Gielen and the honorary conductor Pierre Boulez shaped and cultivated the sound for which the ensemble is now highly praised internationally.
The orchestra academy of the Staatskapelle Unter den Linden, founded in 1997, trains young instrumentalists. This includes regular lessons with band members, own chamber music concerts, preparation for auditions and playing at the podium in concerts, operas, ballets, while traveling and when making recordings.
A concert of the Staatskapelle under the direction of Barenboim in Iran, initiated by Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier , failed in August 2015 because his government “does not recognize the Zionist regime and will not work with artists from this regime”.
The Staatskapelle Berlin is intensely committed to climate protection . In 2009 the musicians set up the NaturTon Foundation with their private assets to finance environmental projects. Together with other orchestras they run the association “Orchester des Wandels Deutschland e. V. ”, which among other things supports the sustainable cultivation of ebony wood, which is used for instrument making.
Awards
- Orchestra of the year 2008 (award from Opernwelt magazine):
- Staatskapelle Berlin
- Echo Klassik 2007 (Ensemble / Orchestra of the Year, Category New Music):
- Mahler, Symphony No. 9. With Barenboim (Warner, 2007).
- Orchestra of the year 2006 (award from Opernwelt magazine):
- Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim.
- Grammy Award 2003 (Best Opera Recording):
- Wagner, Tannhauser. With Barenboim (conductor), Eaglen, Hampson, Meier, Pape and the choir of the German State Opera Berlin.
- Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize 2003, together with Daniel Barenboim .
literature
- 400 years of the Staatskapelle Berlin: congratulations from all over the world. Published by Horst Richter on behalf of the artistic director of the German State Opera Berlin. Berlin: State Opera Unter den Linden 1970
- Staatskapelle Berlin 1842-1992: 150 years of rights concerts. Published by the German State Opera Berlin. Text and picture editing: Sigrid Neef. Berlin 1992
- Sound images: Portrait of the Staatskapelle Berlin. Edited by Georg Quander. Photos by Monika Rittershaus. Berlin: Propylaen-Verlag 1995. ISBN 3-550-05490-4
- Dirk Stöve: "My wonderful band": Otmar Suitner and the Staatskapelle Berlin. Berlin: Henschel 2002. ISBN 3-89487-424-4
- John Hunt: Staatskapelle Berlin: discography 1916-1962; the shellac era. London: Travis & Emery Music Bookshop 2013. ISBN 978-1-901395-28-0
Web links
- Website of the Staatskapelle Berlin
- Play and sing beautifully , Die Tageszeitung , July 18, 2009
- Lena van der Hoven: 450 years of the Staatskapelle Berlin - an inventory / The development of court music from the electoral chapel of Brandenburg to the court orchestra of the first king in Prussia October 16-18, 2015 Berlin, H-Soz-Kult , January 8, 2015
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Mark Pullinger: Chailly and the Berliner Philharmoniker: the critics' selection for the best orchestra and the best conductor in the world , bachtrack.com, September 3, 2015
- ↑ Concert in Tehran: Iran wants to prevent Barenboim performance SPON from August 28, 2015
- ↑ NaturTon Foundation - History. In: NaturTon Foundation for the Earth. An initiative of the musicians of the Staatskapelle Berlin. Retrieved June 22, 2020 .
- ^ "Orchester des Wandels Deutschland eV" In: Staatsoper Unter den Linden - Staatskapelle Berlin. Retrieved June 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
