Michael Schneider (born 10 August 1953) is a German flautist, recorder player, conductor and academic teacher. He is especially connected with later Baroque repertoire such as the works of

Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...

and with early Classical repertoire such as the works of

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

, and founded the orchestra La Stagione to perform and record such repertoire.

Career

Schneider was born in

Nordhorn Nordhorn (Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'' (or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn'' and ''Noordhoorn'')) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with the ...

. He studied flute and recorder at the

Musikhochschule Köln A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

. In 1978 he was a winner of the

ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition (german: link=no, Internationaler Musikwettbewerb der ARD) is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and held once a year in Munich. Si ...

in the category recorder.Michael Schneider
University of Music and Performing Arts, Frankfurt For

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

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.Discography
La Stagione They appeared at the Handel Festival in Göttingen, the Handel Festival in Halle, the

Bachfest Leipzig The Bachfest Leipzig (Leipzig Bach Festival) is a music festival which takes place annually, in the month of June, in the city of Leipzig, where J. S. Bach worked as the Thomaskantor from 1723 until his death in 1750. The current artistic director ...

, the

Schwetzingen Festival The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany. In 1952, the broadca ...

and the

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist Justus Frantz. In 2006, the 21 ...

, among others.Michael Schneider (Conductor, Recorder)
bach-cantatas.com 2007 Schneider also conducted orchestras such as the

Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (North West German Philharmonic) is a German orchestra, symphony orchestra based in Herford. It was founded in 1950 and, along with Philharmonie Südwestfalen and Landesjugendorchester NRW, is one of the 'official ...

, the

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. In 1998 the orchestra received the Georg Phil ...

, the

Zurich Chamber Orchestra The Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Zürcher Kammerorchester; ZKO, German abbreviation) 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 Schauspielhaus Zü ...

and the

Israel Chamber Orchestra Israel Chamber Orchestra (abbreviation ICO, Hebrewהתזמורת הקאמרית הישראלית (''Hatizmoret hakamerit'') is an Israeli orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Primary funding comes from the Israel Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv-Yafo ...

. In 1980 Schneider was appointed professor for recorder at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

. Since 1993 he has been professor of the University of Music and Performing Arts, 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 The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

Eberbach Abbey Eberbach Abbey (German: Kloster Eberbach) is a former Cistercian monastery in Eltville in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in ...

, 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 Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella (Bologna, 3 July 1643 – Genoa, 25 February 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque period. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with ...

'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 '' Pimpinone''. From the Italian Baroque, he recorded Stradella's Christmas cantatas,

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

's recorder concertos, Geminiani concertos, and a Scarlatti recital with

Dimitri Egorov Dmitri Fyodorovich Egorov (russian: Дми́трий Фёдорович Его́ров; December 22, 1869 – September 10, 1931) was a Russian and Soviet mathematician known for contributions to the areas of differential geometry and mathematic ...

. He conducted the operas ''Piramo e Tisbe'' by

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) 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 co ...

and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's '' Rodelinda''. He recorded Bach's solo cantatas for bass with

Gotthold Schwarz Gotthold Schwarz (born 2 May 1952 in Zwickau) is a German Bass-baritone and conductor. Based in Leipzig, he started as a member of the Thomanerchor and has conducted the Gewandhausorchester. Between 2016 and 2021, he was the 17th Thomaskantor af ...

, the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

and La Stagione,

BWV 56 (), 56, is a church cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 19th Sunday after Trinity. It was first performed in Leipzig on 27 October, 1726. The composition is a solo cantata (german: Solokantate) because, apart from the ...

, 82 and 158.Bach: Kantaten · Cantatas BWV 82, BWV 158, BWV 56
bach-cantatas.com Schneider's recordings of early classical repertoire include the hugely underrated Magnificats of both

and

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...

on an amazing if not electrifying Capriccio CD, Mozart with

Ruth Ziesak Ruth Ziesak (born 9 February 1963) is a German soprano in opera and concert. Career 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 Mu ...

Simon Le Duc Simon Le Duc, more commonly Leduc (Paris, 15 January 1742 22 January 1777), was a French violinist, soloist at the Concert Spirituel, music publisher and composer. His younger brother, Pierre Le Duc (1755–1818), was also a violinist. Leduc was a ...

's symphonies,

Carl Friedrich Abel Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument. Life Abel was born in Köthen, ...

's flute concertos, chamber music, piano concertos, symphonies,

Franz Ignaz Beck Franz Ignaz Beck (20 February 1734 – 31 December 1809) 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 Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. Possibly the m ...

's symphonies,

Georg Anton Benda Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the classical period from the Kingdom of Bohemia. Biography Born into a family of notable musician ...

's harpsichord concertos,

Matthias Georg Monn Georg Matthias Monn (born ''Johann Georg Mann'' 9 April 1717, Vienna – 3 October 1750, Vienna) was an Austrian composer, organist and music teacher whose works were fashioned in the transition from the Baroque to Classical period in music. ...

's cello concertos and Josef Martin Kraus' Requiem,

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's opera ''

L'anima del filosofo ''L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice'' (''The Soul of the Philosopher, or Orpheus and Euridice''), Hob. 28/13, is an opera in Italian in four acts by Joseph Haydn, the last he wrote. The libretto, by Carlo Francesco Badini, is based ...

'' and

Ignaz Holzbauer Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian 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'' "m ...

's ''

Günther von Schwarzburg Günther XXI von Schwarzburg (c. 1304 – 14 June 1349), disputed King of Germany, was a descendant of the counts of Schwarzburg. Biography Born as the younger son of Henry VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (c. 1267 - 1324) and his wife, ...

''.

Awards

In 2000 Schneider was awarded the

Telemann Prize The Telemann Prize is an annual classical music award for special achievements in interpretation, research and cultivation of the life and work of Georg Philipp Telemann. Since 1987, the city of Magdeburg has awarded the prize every year in March ...

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

. His recording of Telemann's opera ''Damon'' with La Stagione was the "Critic's Choice" of

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

in 1998.Telemann: Damon / Michael Schneider

La Stagione Frankfurt La Stagione Frankfurt is a German ensemble of Baroque and classical music, adept at historically informed performance. History The ensemble La Stagione Frankfurt was founded in 1988 by the German flautist and conductor Michael SchneiderBookl ...

arkivmusic.com 1997

References

External links

* * * (accessed 1 April 2013)
Michael Schneider

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Michael German male conductors (music) German flautists German recorder players Academic staff of the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts 1953 births Living people Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians 21st-century flautists