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Biography
"A superb period instrument band"– New York Times , March 2009
Recently hailed as "one of the world's great orchestras" by China Daily following its debut performance in Beijing, the Academy of Ancient Music is a household name renowned worldwide for its energized, passionate performances of baroque and classical music. Since it was founded by Christopher Hogwood in 1973 the AAM has reached music lovers worldwide with over 250 recordings and live performances on every continent except Antarctica.
The AAM specialises in performing on instruments and in styles dating from the time when the music was composed. Under Hogwood's leadership it established itself as a leading authority on how music was originally performed. This pioneering work had a transformative impact on the world of classical music, and lies at the heart of the AAM's reputation for musical excellence.
In 2006, Hogwood passed leadership of the AAM on to Richard Egarr. In his first three years as Music Director, Egarr has led tours to four continents, released CDs which have already won Gramophone, MIDEM and Edison awards, and founded the award-winning Choir of the AAM.
Concerts with Egarr in 2009-10 see the orchestra performing music from Castello and Monteverdi to Finzi and Britten around the world. Highlights include a tour of music by anniversary composers Purcell and Haydn to Africa and the Far East, a Christmas tour of Handel's Messiah around Europe, and a fascinating programme showcasing the music of Monteverdi's little-known contemporary Dario Castello.
The vitality of the AAM's music making continues to be fostered by a range of guest directors. This season the orchestra works with Pavlo Beznosiuk, who directs a programme contrasting the Pergolesi and Vivaldi settings of the Stabat Mater; violinist Giuliano Carmignola, who directs early masterpieces by Mendelssohn and Schubert; Stephen Cleobury, who conducts a major European tour of Monteverdi's Vespers will the choir of King's College, Cambridge; Paul Goodwin, who conducts Haydn symphonies at Esterhaza Palace, the historic seat of the composer's patrons; and Stephen Layton, who conducts the AAM's traditional Good Friday performance of JS Bach's St John Passion with Polyphony.
The AAM's pioneering recordings under Hogwood for Decca's L'Oiseau-Lyre label cover much of the baroque and classical orchestral canon. They include the first recordings on period instruments of Mozart's complete symphonies and Beethoven's piano concertos, and prize-winning opera recordings starring Cecilia Bartoli, Emma Kirkby and Joan Sutherland. Further projects have resulted in recordings for EMI, Chandos, Erato and Harmonia Mundi, and the orchestra has released award-winning recordings with the choirs of King's College, Cambridge, Trinity College, Cambridge and New College, Oxford.
With Richard Egarr, the orchestra has recently completed a landmark new cycle of Handel's complete instrumental music published as Op.1-7. Other recent releases include JS Bach's complete Brandenburg Concertos with Egarr, Purcell and Handel discs with Stephen Layton and the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge on Hyperion, and, for EMI, Handel's Messiah with Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge
The AAM is Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge.
October, 2009 – please discard any previously dated material.
Richard Egarr, director and harpsichord
Richard Egarr is one of the most versatile musicians around. He has worked with all types of keyboards and performed repertoire ranging from fifteenth-century organ intabulations to Dussek and Chopin on early pianos, to Berg and Maxwell Davies on modern piano. He is in great demand as a soloist and chamber musician, as well as a conductor.
Richard Egarr enjoyed his musical training as a choirboy at York Minster, at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and as organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge. His study with Gustav Leonhardt further inspired his work in the field of historical performance.
As a conductor, Richard Egarr has presented a wide range of repertoire, from Bach's Matthew Passion to John Taverner's Ikon of Light . He has worked with specialised ensembles and modern orchestras alike, such as Tafelmusik Toronto, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra. He is director of the Amsterdam-based Academy of the Begijnhof. Recent productions include Handel's Esther , Acis & Galatea , Alcina and L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato , many performances of the Messiah , and dramatic Handel Opera arias with soprano Emma Bell and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Haydn's The Creation , Purcell's Fairy Queen , Bach's B minor Mass and Telemann's St Matthew Passion , and Stokowski arrangements with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Richard will be directing Bach's St Matthew Passion in 2007 with the Dutch Bach Society, and, in a staged version, at Glyndebourne. He will also conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Flemish Radio Symphony Orchestra (in Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique ). In April 2006 he was appointed as Christopher Hogwood's successor as Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music, with effect from the 2006–2007 season.
As soloist, Richard has performed extensively in the major music festivals throughout Europe and Japan; his 2006 solo tour in the USA with Bach's Goldberg Variations received great critical acclaim. He has appeared many times as orchestral soloist with the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra, with the Orchestra of the 18th Century as well as with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble.
In chamber music, Richard forms an ‘unequalled duo for violin and keyboard' ( Gramophone ) with violinist Andrew Manze. They have toured Europe and North-America with music from the Stylus Phantasticus and late baroque. They have recently turned to later repertoire with performances of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Hubert Parry.
Richard Egarr records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi USA. His solo discs include works by Frescobaldi, Gibbons, Couperin, Purcell, J.S. Bach and the complete recording of the keyboard works of Johann Jakob Froberger. Recent recordings include Per Cembalo Solo (Gramophone Editor's Choice) and Bach's Goldberg Variations . He has made numerous recordings with Andrew Manze, of violin sonatas by Rebel, Pandolfi (Gramophone Award), Handel (nominated for a Grammy Award), Bach, Corelli (Prix Caecilia), Biber's Rosary Sonatas (Edison Award) and Mozart's Auernhammer Sonatas . With the Academy of Ancient Music he recorded the complete Bach harpsichord concertos. Upcoming issues include solo keyboard music by Mozart and Louis Couperin, Bach's Wohltemperierte Clavier Book I, and (with the Academy of Ancient Music) Handel's Concerti Grossi Op.3 and the Organ Concerti Op.4 and 7.
October, 2009 – please discard any previously dated material.
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