Michael Schneider (conductor)
Encyclopedia
Michael Schneider is a German flautist, recorder player, conductor and academic teacher. He is especially connected with later baroque repertoire such as the works of Telemann, and founded the orchestra La Stagione to perform that repertoire.
in the category recorder.
For historically informed performance
s he founded in 1979 the ensemble "Camerata Köln" (Camerata Cologne) and in 1988 the orchestra "La Stagione". He conducted both in performances and many recordings. They appeared at the Handel Festival in Göttingen, the Handel Festival in Halle
, the Bachfest Leipzig
, the Schwetzingen Festival
and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
, among others.
Schneider also conducted orchestras such as the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie
, the Cappella Coloniensis
, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra
and the Israel Chamber Orchestra
.
In 1980 Schneider was appointed professor for recorder at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin
. Since 1993 he has been professor of the Musikhochschule Frankfurt, where he established in 2005 a class for "Historische Interpretationspraxis" (historically informed interpretation). Since 2005 he has served as a vice president of the university. In 2011 he appeared with about 50 students and teachers from the university at the Rheingau Musik Festival
in Eberbach Abbey
, including first a variety of chamber music concerts in smaller halls of the former monastery, performed by a piano quintet, a string quartet and a trumpet trio, and finally a semi-staged presentation of Alessandro Stradella
's oratorio San Giovanni Battista in the Basilika.
.
From the Italian Baroque, he recorded Stradella
's Christmas cantatas, Vivaldi's recorder concertos, Geminiani concertos, and a Scarlatti recital with Dimitri Egorov. He conducted the operas Piramo e Tisbe by Johann Adolph Hasse
and Handel
's Rodelinda.
He recorded Bach's solo cantata
s for bass with Gotthold Schwarz, the Thomanerchor
and La Stagione, BWV 56, 82 and 158.
Schneider's recordings of early classical
repertoire include Mozart with Ruth Ziesak
, Simon Le Duc
's symphonies, Carl Friedrich Abel's flute concertos, chamber music, piano concertos, symphonies, Franz Ignaz Beck
's symphonies, Georg Anton Benda's harpsichord concertos, Matthias Georg Monn's cello concertos and Josef Martin Kraus
' Requiem, Haydn's opera L'anima del filosofo
and Ignaz Holzbauer
's Günther von Schwarzburg
.
.
His recording of Telemann's opera Damon with La Stagione was the "Critic's Choice" of Gramophone in 1998.
Professional career
Schneider studied flute and recorder at the Musikhochschule Köln. In 1978 he was a winner of the ARD International Music CompetitionARD International Music Competition
The ARD International Music Competition is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is held once a year in Munich.-History:...
in the category recorder.
For historically informed performance
Historically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
s he founded in 1979 the ensemble "Camerata Köln" (Camerata Cologne) and in 1988 the orchestra "La Stagione". He conducted both in performances and many recordings. They appeared at the Handel Festival in Göttingen, the Handel Festival in Halle
Handel Festival, Halle
The Handel Festival in Halle is an international music festival, concentrating on the music of George Frideric Handel, in the composer's birthplace in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. The festival was founded in 1922 and grew into a center of Handel studies and performance in Europe...
, the Bachfest Leipzig
Bachfest Leipzig
The Leipzig Bach Festival is a music festival which takes place annually in the city of Leipzig, where Bach worked as the Thomaskantor from 1723 until his death in 1750....
, the Schwetzingen Festival
Schwetzingen Festival
The Schwetzingen Festival is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany....
and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival is a classical music festival held every year in summer time all over the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany....
, among others.
Schneider also conducted orchestras such as the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie
The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie is a German symphony orchestra based in Herford. It was founded in 1950 and, along with Philharmonie Südwestfalen and Landesjugendorchester NRW, is one of the 'official' orchestras of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia...
, the Cappella Coloniensis
Cappella Coloniensis
Cappella Coloniensis is a German orchestra founded by the West German Radio in Cologne in 1954 for the purpose of introducing historically informed performance of Baroque music to the listening public....
, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra
Zurich Chamber Orchestra
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Rietberg Museum, the ZKO-Haus in the Seefeld quarter of the city, and such churches as the Fraumünster and the Kirche St....
and the Israel Chamber Orchestra
Israel Chamber Orchestra
The Israel Chamber Orchestra is an Israeli orchestra based in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Primary funding comes from the Israel Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv Jaffa Municipality....
.
In 1980 Schneider was appointed professor for recorder at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
. Since 1993 he has been professor of the Musikhochschule Frankfurt, where he established in 2005 a class for "Historische Interpretationspraxis" (historically informed interpretation). Since 2005 he has served as a vice president of the university. In 2011 he appeared with about 50 students and teachers from the university at the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
in Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near Eltville am Rhein in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its impressive Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Hesse, Germany...
, including first a variety of chamber music concerts in smaller halls of the former monastery, performed by a piano quintet, a string quartet and a trumpet trio, and finally a semi-staged presentation of Alessandro Stradella
Alessandro Stradella
Alessandro Stradella was an Italian composer of the middle baroque. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres.-Life:Not much is known about his early life, but he...
's oratorio San Giovanni Battista in the Basilika.
Selected recordings
Schneider recorded especially the works of Telemann, both as a player and conductor, including his wind concertos (6 volumes), recorder concertos, orchestral suites, Trauermusik (funeral music) for Karl VII, Trauermusik for Hamburg's mayor Garlieb Sillem and the Hamburgische Kapitänsmusik (1755). He recorded the oratorio Der aus der Löwengrube erettete Daniel, the comic opera Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho, the opera Damon and the one-act PimpinonePimpinone
Pimpinone, TWV 21:15, is a comic opera by the German composer Georg Philipp Telemann with a libretto by Johann Philipp Praetorius. Its full title is Die Ungleiche Heirat zwischen Vespetta und Pimpinone oder Das herrsch-süchtige Camer Mägden...
.
From the Italian Baroque, he recorded Stradella
Stradella
-Places in Italy:Municipalities *Stradella, in the Province of Pavia, LombardyCivil parishes *Stradella , in the commune of Bigarello, Province of Mantua, Lombardy...
's Christmas cantatas, Vivaldi's recorder concertos, Geminiani concertos, and a Scarlatti recital with Dimitri Egorov. He conducted the operas Piramo e Tisbe by Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music...
and Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Rodelinda.
He recorded Bach's solo cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
s for bass with Gotthold Schwarz, the Thomanerchor
Thomanerchor
The Thomanerchor is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. At present, the choir consists of 92 boys from 9 to 18 years of age...
and La Stagione, BWV 56, 82 and 158.
Schneider's recordings of early classical
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
repertoire include Mozart with Ruth Ziesak
Ruth Ziesak
- Biography :Ruth Ziesak studied voice at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts with Elsa Cavelti and Christoph Prégardien. She has been a member of the Municipal Theatre Heidelberg since 1988 and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in 1990....
, Simon Le Duc
Simon Le Duc
Simon Le Duc was a French violinist, soloist at the Concert Spirituel, music publisher and composer. His younger brother, Pierre Le Duc , was also a violinist...
's symphonies, Carl Friedrich Abel's flute concertos, chamber music, piano concertos, symphonies, Franz Ignaz Beck
Franz Ignaz Beck
Franz Ignaz Beck was a German violinist, composer, conductor and music teacher who spent the greater part of his life in France, where he became director of the Bordeaux Grand Théâtre. Possibly the most talented pupil of Johann Stamitz, Beck is an important representative of the second generation...
's symphonies, Georg Anton Benda's harpsichord concertos, Matthias Georg Monn's cello concertos and Josef Martin Kraus
Joseph Martin Kraus
Joseph Martin Kraus , was a composer in the classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm...
' Requiem, Haydn's opera L'anima del filosofo
L'anima del filosofo
L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice , Hob. 28/13, is an opera in Italian in four acts by Joseph Haydn, the last he ever wrote. The libretto, by Carlo Francesco Badini, is based on the myth of Orpheus and Euridice as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses...
and Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Holzbauer
Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer was a composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the Sturm und Drang "movement" of German art and literature.Holzbauer was born in Vienna...
's Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther von Schwarzburg
Günther XXI von Schwarzburg , German king, was a descendant of the counts of Schwarzburg and the younger son of Henry VII, count of Blankenburg....
.
Awards
In 2000 Schneider was awarded the Telemann-Preis of MagdeburgMagdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
.
His recording of Telemann's opera Damon with La Stagione was the "Critic's Choice" of Gramophone in 1998.
External links
- Michael Schneider website
- Michael Schneider La Stagione Frankfurt