Short Biography
Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929-2016) was a Austrian musician, conductor, music researcher, free thinker and pioneer of historical performance practice of early music in the 20th and 21st centuries. Throughout his life, he tirelessly tracked down historical sources and contemporary witness reports, which formed the basis of his “unheard-of” way of interpreting early music from the Renaissance to Viennese Classicism and was to revolutionise listening habits internationally, for which he received the prestigious Kyoto Prize in 2005.
He has also explored composers beyond Viennese classical music, from Antonin Dvorak, Anton Bruckner and Johann Strauss to the masters of the 20th century. His unusual rehearsals and approach remain unique for all those who have ever worked with him.
Long biography
Childhood and Youth:
1929 Born in Berlin
1931 Family moves to Graz to live with relatives in the Palais Meran.
1947 Initial awakening and vocation as a musician listening to the 7th symphony by Beethoven,
1948 start of cello studies in Vienna, where he first meets Alice
The 50s:
Set up and searching, rehearsals, research, finding instruments
1953 Wedding to Alice Hoffelner
1953 Founding of the Concentus musicus Vienna, which expands to “12 First-Concenti”
1954 to 1961 Birth of Alice and Nikolaus’ four children Elisabeth, Philipp, Eberhard and Franz
Life in Josefstadt, Vienna
1952 to 1969 Employment as a cellist with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra
formative conductors were Herbert von Karajan, Karl Richter, Karl Böhm, Wilhelm Furtwängler
In addition, these conductors had a positive influence on Harnoncourt as he says: Arturo Toscanini, René Leibowitz, Pablo Casals, Wilhelm Furtwängler, the young Herbert von Karajan
1954 Revival of ‘Orfeo’ by Monteverdi under the direction of Paul Hindemith at the Vienna Konzerthaus –
1957 First appearance at Palais Schwarzenberg with Georg Muffat’s Armonico Tributo
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The 60s
Development and initial successes
1962 Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in the Mozart Hall at the Vienna Konzerthaus
1966 to 1978 Five concert tours in the United States
1966 First disc recording at Casino Zögernitz in Vienna (Telemann), a recording location that lasted for decades
1967 First time Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria concert and recording for Swedish Radio
1968 First performances and tours in the Netherlands, GermanyThe 70s
1971 Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria Wiener Festwochen at the Theater an der Wien
1972 Start of the recording contract with Telefunken
1972 to 1989 Recording of all Bach cantatas together with Gustav Leonhardt
1972 Move to St. Georgen im Attergau
1972 Debut as conductor at La Scala in Milan with Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria by Monteverdi
1973-1992 Professorship for historical performance practice at the Mozarteum Salzburg
1973 Debut of Concentus musicus Wien at the Vienna Musikverein, own subscription cycle from 1978 on
Zurich: Monteverdi cycle with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle: Orfeo 1975, Poppea 1977 and Ulisse 1978
1978 Start of collaboration with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir with Handel’s JephthaThe 80s
1980 Debut as a conductor in Austria at the Mozartwoche Salzburg with the Concertgebouw Orkest
1980 Recipient of the Erasmus Prize together with Gustav Leonhardt
1980 and onwards: Mozart cycle in Zurich with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
1982 Publication of the first book Music as speech
1983 First performance of Schubert
1984 First performance of Johann Strauss and Ludwig van Beethoven
1985 Foundation of the Styriarte Festival: First live performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Concentus musicus Wien
1985 First performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio
1987 Debut as conductor at the Vienna State Opera with Mozart’s Idomeneo (directed by Johannes Schaaf)
1988 first staged Magic Flute (directed by Otto Schenk)
1988 First performance of Johannes Brahms
1989 world premiere of Luciano Berio’s RenderingThe 90s
shift to Romanticism
1991 first performance of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
1992 first performance of Robert Schumann
1992 and onwards Conducting at the Salzburg Festival
1993 first staging of Weber’s Der Freischütz in Zurich (directed by Ruth Berghaus)
1994 first performance of Anton Bruckner with the Concertgebouw Orkest, additionally the first performance of Offenbach
1995 Keynote speaker at the opening of the Salzburg Festivalthe 2000s
Focus on the 20th century
2001 and 2003 New Year’s concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
2005 Recipient of the Kyoto Prize
2006 to 2014 Return to the Theater an der Wien
2009 Gershwin: Porgy and Bess at the Styriarte
Exhibition in Graz: Being Nikolaus Harnoncourt
2015 Final concert: Beethoven’s Missa solemnis at the Salzburg Festival
5 December 2015 Farewell to the stage
5 March 2016 died
Short Biography
Alice Harnoncourt (1930-2022) was an Austrian violinist and pioneer of historical performance practice. As a founding member and concertmaster of the Concentus Musicus Wien, she played a key role in shaping its sound.
Born in Vienna in 1930, she initially began with piano lessons and then switched to the violin. In 1953, she married Nikolaus Harnoncourt, with whom she founded the Concentus Musicus Wien in 1953 and continued her career, although this was unusual for women at the time. She was its concertmaster until 1985 and played first violin until 2015.
In addition to her role as concertmaster, she managed the orchestra and organised tours. Her violin playing has been immortalised in many recordings. Alice Harnoncourt received numerous awards and was crucial to the success of the Concentus Musicus. She died in 2022, leaving behind a significant legacy in historical performance practice and classical music.
Long Biography
Alice Harnoncourt (née Hoffelner) was born in Vienna in 1930.
She was an Austrian violinist, pioneer of historical performance practice, co-founder, first and long-standing concertmaster and soloist of the Concentus Musicus Wien. She studied piano and violin with Ernst Moravec and Gottfried Feist in Vienna, with Jacques Thibaud in Paris and with Tibor Varga in London with the prospect of a solo career.
During her studies, she met the cellist and fellow student Nikolaus Harnoncourt in 1948. They married in June 1953 and founded the Concentus musicus Wien in the same year. In performance practice lessons with Josef Mertin (1904-1998), they found like-minded people who were equally interested in this subject, so that they could develop it professionally together as part of their own ensemble.
Alice had naturally prepared herself to become a housewife and mother after her wedding. She was very surprised when Nikolaus said to her: ‘No, no, you’re the best violinist I know, you’ll continue playing with me.’ At a time when women were not allowed in the great orchestras, Alice Harnoncourt, as concertmaster, had a decisive influence on the interpretation and sound of the Concentus Musicus and was involved in almost all concerts and recordings from the very beginning.
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She also played pardessus de viole, viola and viola d’amore. She became the very first female concertmaster of an orchestra in Austria, the Concentus musicus, and was the only woman in the orchestra for a very long time. In Austria at that time, women only played in the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Radio Symphony Orchestra, because you couldn’t see them on the radio! In addition to her work as a soloist and concertmaster, Alice also became the agent and secretary of Nikolaus and the Concentus musicus, its orchestra manager, copyist and orchestra manager, musical assistant, head of finance, organised the household and became the mother of four children. The preparation and realisation of a three-week tour of the USA in 1966 with original instruments can only be summarised as a pioneering spirit with a thirst for adventure. Alice studied the violin with Jacques Thibaud in Paris for a year in 1951 and copied a lot of music by Lully and Rameau by hand from the original manuscript in the National Library. Copiers had just been invented, but were not widespread. Everything had to be transcribed by hand. This is baroque practice in action! There are still metres of handwritten material in the archive – neatly and closely written. Music paper was expensive.
Her violin playing is documented in numerous recordings. She played all of Johann Sebastian Bach’s violin concertos, Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Le quattro stagioni’, violin concertos by Handel, string quartets by Haydn, works by Fux, Biber, Schmelzer, Josquin and in operas by Monteverdi and Mozart. At the same time, she was repeatedly invited by colleagues from France, Germany and Holland to perform chamber music such as trio or solo violin sonatas with them and to record for various radio stations. The violinist Ingrid Seifert wrote about her: ‘Her excellent violin technique allowed her to concentrate fully on expression: When she asked for repetitions in solo recordings, for example, it was always to improve her musical ideas, to put a more personal stamp on the interpretation, to get her point across even more convincingly… How fortunate I was as a young violinist to witness this total conviction and enthusiasm in her playing. At the time, I admired her both as a convincing soloist and as a very capable leader of the Concentus musicus, who knew how to assert herself against Nikolaus’ strong opinions. But today I appreciate her even more because I know how hard it must have been to bring up four small children and still have the energy to be patient with inexperienced violinists like me.’
Alice Harnoncourt has received several awards for her work. She was awarded the Gold Medal of Honour for Services to the State of Vienna, the Grand Gold Medal of Honour of the State of Styria and, together with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus, has won numerous awards. How she managed all this until 2015 without a computer, internet, mobile phone or email will forever remain a mystery to us. She always had a good word, an even temper, patience and enjoyed everything she did. Without Alice, this whole endeavour would not have been possible. They could only have done it together. Speaking of together: in their 63-year marriage, they were only separated for 14 days. Alice Harnoncourt died on 20 July 2022 and is buried next to Nikolaus in St. Georgen im Attergau. There is a square there with his name. Here are hers. The fact that the Nikolaus Harnoncourt Zentrum is at home on Alice Harnoncourt Square marries the two once again.
Drawings & carvings
Nikolaus Harnoncourt also had a talent for drawing, which he left behind in various formats, primarily for his family. He had an affinity for wood and carving from an early age. Here you will find a few examples of his non-musical creative works.
Der König- von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Handpuppe
Kasperl - von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Handpuppe
Das Krokodil- von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Handpuppe
Das Krokodil- von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Handpuppe
Die Prinzessin- von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Handpuppe
Der Polizist - von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Handpuppe
Kruzifix - von Nikolaus für Alice geschnitzt.
Kruzifix Corpus - von Nikolaus für Alice geschnitzt.
Kruzifix Kopf - von Nikolaus für Alice geschnitzt.
von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Sessellehne.
von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Sessellehne.
von Harnoncourt geschnitzte Sessellehne.
Harnoncourts Baryton. Eine Kopie von Krenn aus der Sammlung der Musikinstrumente der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien. Den Kopf schnitzte Harnoncourt selbst.
Harnoncourts Baryton - Detail. Eine Kopie von Krenn aus der Sammlung der Musikinstrumente der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien. Den Kopf schnitzte Harnoncourt selbst.
Harnoncourts Baryton - Detail. Eine Kopie von Krenn aus der Sammlung der Musikinstrumente der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien. Den Kopf schnitzte Harnoncourt selbst.
Toi toi toi-Zettel von Nikolaus Harnoncourt für die Beteiligten der Zauberflöte, Salzburg 2012. Harnoncourt zeichnet sich selbst immer mit rotem Kopf mit zwei Haaren.
Hochzeitskarte 2013
Weihnachtskarte 2012
Weihnachtskarte
Neujahrskarte
Neujahrskarte 2015
Mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Archivs des Konzerthauses Wien. Zeichnung von Nikolaus Harnoncourt für die Festschrift des 100jährigen Bestehens des Konzerthauses 2013. Die Zeichnung bezieht sich auf die konzertante Aufführung Monteverdis L'Orfeo 1954 unter der Leitung von Paul Hindemith unter Mitwirkung von Josef Mertin.
Kurt Streit gezeichnet von Nikolaus Harnoncourt - anlässlich der Aufführung von Mozarts Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Theater an der Wien, 1989.
Die Instrumente gehören natürlich zur Familie dazu!
Concentus Musicus
Selbstportrait Nikolaus Harnoncourts
Concentus Musicus
Nikolaus Harnoncourt von Bernd Ertl gezeichnet.
Zeichnung von Raymond Munnecom - Bassposaunist beim Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam
Zeichnung von Raymond Munnecom - Bassposaunist beim Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam
Nikolaus Harnoncourt als Ritter Blaubart.
Zeichnung von Nikolaus Harnoncourt von Tomek 2009
Der 2. Geiger des Concentus musicus Walter Pfeiffer war ein begabter Zeichner und liebte es seine Kollegen in den Noten zu verewigen. Hier der Hundeliebhaber und Geiger Josef de Sordi.