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After founding the Münchener Bach-Chor in 1954, Karl Richter also established the Münchener Bach-Orchester (Munich Bach Orchestra) and soon formed it into a leading international ensemble. The orchestra achieved its prominent reputation above all with its Bach interpretations during major concert tours from Paris and Moscow to Tokyo and New York.
This was complemented by numerous recordings (Deutsche Grammophon) as well as television and radio productions - some with the outstanding singers and instrumentalists of the 1960's and 1970's (including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Fritz Wunderlich, Edith Mathis and Maurice André). During this time, the great works from J.S. Bach to L.v. Beethoven were recorded. Before the advent of historically informed performance practice, the Münchener Bach-Orchester was nearly unrivaled in its field.
Its guest conductors included major figures such as Leonard Bernstein and Bruno Weil as well as Baroque specialist Peter Schreier. After Karl Richter and Hanns-Martin Schneidt, the young conductor, organist and harpsichordist Hansjörg Albrecht assumed leadership of the renowned Münchener Bach-Orchester, which now continues its artistic activities with historically informed performance practice and creative revival of the great Munich Bach tradition.
In 2011, the Münchener Bach-Orchester recorded Gustav Mahler's "Song of the Earth" (Das Lied von der Erde) in a new version for chamber orchestra and four soloists. Recent concerts took the ensemble to the festivals Europäische Wochen Passau, Musikfestspiele Saar and Quedlinburger Musiksommer, to the Baden-Baden Festival Hall and several times to Italy. The orchestra has worked with such singers as Sibylla Rubens, Marlis Petersen, Simone Kermes and Klaus Florian Vogt as well as with instrumental soloists such as Vilde Frang, Alina Pogostkina, Mirijam Contzen and Alfred Brendel.
In 2014, the Münchener Bach-Orchester and Hansjörg Albrecht followed an invitation for a concert tour through Japan. Their performances of J.S. Bach´s Brandenburg Concertos (BWV 1046-1051) continued a long-standing tradition of concert tours, which has seen Munich´s two Bach ensembles spread their music around the globe since the 1960's. |
