Paul Kuentz (4 May 1930 in

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...

, France) is a French conductor who studied at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

from 1947 to 1950, with

Noël Gallon Noël Jean-Charles André Gallon (11 September 1891 – 26 December 1966) was a French composer and music educator. His compositional output includes several choral works and vocal art songs, 10 preludes, a ''Toccata'' for piano, a ''Sonata ...

, Georges Hugon and Eugene Bigot.

Career

He founded the Paul Kuentz Chamber Orchestra in 1951 and made many tours of Europe and the USA, performing the orchestral works of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

at the Church of Saint-Séverin and at Carnegie Hall in 1968. He and his orchestra also completed two popular tours of Southern Africa. He frequently performs French music, including premieres of works by

Pierre Max Dubois Pierre Max Dubois, sometimes given as Pierre-Max Dubois (1 March 1930 – 29 August 1995) was a French composer of classical music, conductor, and music educator. He was a student of Darius Milhaud, and though not widely popular, was respected ...

, Jacques Casterede and Jacques Charpentier. In 1956 he married Monique Frasca-Colombier. In 1972 he founded the Paul Kuentz Chorus.

Recordings

Kuentz often recorded with other orchestras, or in rare instances with his own as well as another ensemble. His acclaimed 1995 recording of

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata '' Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Carl ...

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

, for instance, employed both his own ensemble and the Orchestre des Concerts du Conservatoire. Kuentz's recent releases are reissues of older recordings and include the 2006 Deutsche Grammophon CD A Baroque Guitar Weekend. Over the years Kuentz befriended and performed with some of the leading musicians of the day, including cellist/conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and harpist

Nicanor Zabaleta Nicanor Zabaleta (January 7, 1907 – April 1, 1993) was a Spanish harpist. Zabaleta was born in San Sebastián, Spain, on January 7, 1907. In 1914 his father, an amateur musician, bought him a harp in an antique shop. He soon began takin ...

, with whom he recorded a disc of Baroque harp concertos for Deutsche Grammophon in 1989. Among Kuentz's earlier recordings was his acclaimed two-CD set on

Pierre Verany Disques Pierre Verany is a French classical music record label named after its founder and producer. Verany, a producer and sound engineer, ran his own label "Disques Pierre Verany" for many years — concentrating on Italian and French baroque m ...

of the St. John Passion in 1987. Further successful Bach recordings followed, as well as a spate of others for various labels. Recordings include:

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

's Orchestral Suites, Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) and

Musikalisches Opfer ''The Musical Offering'' (German: or ), BWV 1079, is a collection of keyboard canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great (King Frederick II of Pr ...

; Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and other concertos; Flute concertos by

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 ...

Blavet The Blavet (; br, Blavezh) river flows from central Brittany and enters the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast near Lorient. It is long. The river is canalised for most of its length, forming one of the links in the Brittany canal system. It con ...

, Mozart,

Leclair Le Claire, LeClair, LeClaire or Leclair is a French or Francophone surname which can refer to: * Antoine Le Claire (1797–1861), U.S. Army interpreter, founded Davenport, Iowa * Corinne Leclair (born 1970), Mauritian swimmer * Day Leclaire, Ameri ...

and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi; Music by Michel-Richard Delalande,

Jean-Joseph Mouret Jean-Joseph Mouret (11 April 1682 in Avignon – 22 December 1738 in Charenton-le-Pont) was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country. Even though most of his works are rarely per ...

, Gabrieli and

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

; Mozart's Concerto K 299, Requiem,

Bastien und Bastienne ' (''Bastien and Bastienne''), K. 50 (revised in 1964 to K. 46b) is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ' was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It was allegedly commi ...

and Church Sonatas; Harp concertos by

Georg Frideric 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 ...

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, and one of the teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a friend of Haydn and Mozart. Biography Albrechtsberger was born at K ...

, Boieldieu, Wagenseil and

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2 November 1739 – 24 October 1799) was an Austrian composer, violinist, and silvologist. He was a friend of both Haydn and Mozart. (webpage has a translation button) Life 1739–1764 Dittersdorf was born in ...

; Joseph Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 85 and 101 (EMI); Other labels include

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

and

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

.Source: International Who's Who in Music & Musicians' Directory (13th Edition, 1992/93). Contributed by: Aryeh Oron (November 2005) *

, Harfe (Harp).

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, Handel, Albrechtsberger. Paul Kuentz Chamber Orchestra. DGG LP139 304. 1967. * Mozart Litanie, K. 339 was recorded with the Paul Kuentz Orchestra accompanying the Hamilton College Choir (privately issued lp) c. early 1970s. * In June 1990, he performed Mozart's Requiem and Krönungsmesse (Coronation Mass) at the ''Saint-Etienne du Mont'' church, in Paris, which was recorded in video.

References

French male conductors (music) 1930 births Living people Musicians from Mulhouse Conservatoire de Paris alumni 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French male musicians {{france-conductor-stub