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The German conductor, Christoph Spering, studied church music at the College of Music Cologne.
Christoph Spering belongs to a new generation of young conductors who focus not only on the practical but also on the musicological aspects of interpretation. He devotes himself in the main to elaborating the approaches to the interpretation of 18th and 19th century music which emphasizes the search for musical truth, and also complies with the composer's intentions, far beyond the mere written notes.
Beside the practical Christoph Spering concerns itself with the scientific aspect of musical interpretation. Since 1983 he is director/conductor of the Mülheimer Kantorei Köln he created, and from 1985 the chamber choir Chorus Musicus Köln, as well as from 1988 Das Neue Orchester (The New Orchestra). Following his debut in 1987 as the youngest conductor at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, Christoph Spering received numerous invitations for international engagements. Since that time, he has explored the repertoire with the utmost dedication to historical authenticity.
Under Christoph Spering’s conducting, the ensemble Das Neue Orchester is the first German ensemble to apply the results of historic performance practice up to the Romantic period. The orchestra devotes itself not only to the works of J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn, but also to unknown or rediscovered repertoires. Together with the Chorus Musicus Köln, the orchestra has performed long-forgotten oratorios, such as Columbus by J.S. Bach's grandson Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, Salieri's Requiem and Robert Schumann's Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, and has presented the current concert repertoire, such as, for example, J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244), in Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's 1829, and 1841 versions.
The concert repertoire which Christoph Spering has conducted or recorded includes works by J.S. Bach, L.v. Beethoven, Berlioz, Johannes Brahms, Cherubini, Frédéric Chopin, Gluck, Gabriel Fauré, George Frideric Handel, Haydn, Le Sueur, Felix Mendelssohn, Romberg, Rossini, Salieri and Robert Schumann.
Among the most important musical institutions where Christoph Spering has conducted are the Potsdam Musikfestspiele, the Dresden Musikfestspiele, the Staatstheater in Dortmund, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Opéra Municipal in Lille, the Köln Philharmonic, the Hans-Otto-Theater in Potsdam, the Beaune Festival, the Arsenal auditorium in Metz, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, the Lameque Festival in Canada, and at the Teatro Bellini in Catania.
Christoph Spering’s operatic performances, whether fully staged, in concert or recorded for CD release, include Felix Mendelssohn's Athalia, Haydn's La vera costanza, Benda's Romeo und Julia, Schubert's Die Verschworenen, Paisiello's Don Chisciotte, Gluck's La rencontre imprévue and Orfeo ed Euridice (the latter in both the Italian and French versions), W.A. Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Rossini's L'occasione fa il ladro and Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Robert Schumann's Manfred.
As well as his own Das Neue Orchester, Christoph Spering has also conducted numerous other orchestras, including the Gürzenich Philharmonic Orchestra in Köln, the Halle City Symphony Orchestra, the Brandenburg Philharmonic in Potsdam, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Lille, the National Symphony Orchestra of Vilnius, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Granada and the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.
Christoph Spering’s exclusive collaboration with the innovative French record label Opus 111 has led to a large number of CD releases, many of which have won important international prizes, including the Diapason d’Or. |
