Thomas Zehetmair, Orchestra of the 18th Century & Frans Brüggen
Biography Thomas Zehetmair, Orchestra of the 18th Century & Frans Brüggen
Frans Brüggen
was considered as being among the foremost experts in the performance of eighteenth-century music. He was born in Amsterdam and studied musicology at its university. At the age of 21, he was appointed professor at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and later held a position as Erasmus professor at Harvard University and Regents professor at the University of Berkeley.
As a recorder player Brüggen was described variously as having an ability “to transcend all the instrument’s legendary limitations” and as the “John Lennon of classical music”. As Luciano Berio wrote of him, he was “a musician who is not an archaeologist but a great artist”. The Italian composed music for Brüggen, as did his Dutch compatriot, Louis Andriessen (including the encore piece, Ende, scored for “two alto recorders, one player”). In August 1991, Brüggen made his debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, an orchestra with which he became (along with Simon Rattle) a principal guest conductor. An eventful, packed, unpredictable, communicative, enriching musical career ensued and even in the years prior to his death in August 2014 (at the age of 79) Frans Brüggen had been extending his musical partnerships across the world. Some of the long list of such partnerships included the Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Chicago Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony.
Among his many awards Brüggen was presented with the IMC-UNESCO International Music Prize in 1997 and was appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands (2003) and the Order of the House of Orange (2010).
In 1972 Brüggen had founded the recorder trio Sour Cream with Kees Boeke and Walter van Hauwe. A recording of this avant-garde ensemble, made in 1993, was released by Glossa under the title of The Passion of Reason.
The legacy of Frans Brüggen with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century on Glossa extended to recordings of music by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rameau, Mendelssohn, Bach and Haydn. That legacy also extends to inspiring the Orchestra to continue. Brüggen had engendered an uncommon sense of loyalty and unity of purpose with members of the orchestra.
Frans Brüggen died in Amsterdam on August 13, 2014.
Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century
In 1981, Frans Brüggen – in his time the world’s most famous recorder player – founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (along with Lucy van Dael and a group of friends), which consists today of some fifty-five members from 20 different countries. Three (or often more) times a year the orchestra assembles to go on tour. In its structure and size, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century resembles the luxurious “Classical” orchestras of the period as are known from London, Paris and Vienna. The musicians, who are all specialists in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music, play on instruments from the period, or on contemporary copies. It is these musicians’ intention to try to achieve the most authentic-as-possible performances of the masterpieces of the late Baroque and Classical eras and beyond.
In concert Frans Brüggen’s wide-ranging repertoire with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century embraced works by Purcell, Bach, Rameau, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. After nearly 50 CDs on Philips, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century has been recording exclusively for Glossa since 1997, in co-production with its own production house, The Grand Tour. Notable recordings which were produced with Frans Brüggen included Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and music by a composer who Brüggen often returned to throughout his career: Jean-Philippe Rameau (a valedictory box set containing recordings of orchestral suites released on Glossa and Philips has since been issued).
Since the death of Frans Brüggen, the orchestra has continued to perform and record, now in the company of guest conductors, such as Daniel Reuss – who has led recordings of the Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem and the Beethoven Missa Solemnis – but also Roger Norrington and Kenneth Montgomery. Regular choral support is provided by Cappella Amsterdam.
At the time of its foundation the Orchestra was supported by friends throughout the world and the Prince Bernhard Foundation. From 1983 to 1988 the orchestra was sponsored by IBM Europe. From 1989 till 1997 Deloitte and the VSB Fonds took over the sponsorship. Subsidies from the Dutch Government guaranteed the Orchestra’s continuation from 1985 till now.
