Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque
- Rachel Podger, vln / dir
- Bojan Čičić, vln
- Johannes Pramsohler, vln
- Jane Rogers, vla
- Alison McGillivray, vcl
- Jan Spencer, violone
- Christopher Bucknall, hpch
Rachel Podger
Instrument : Grancino, 1680
Rachel Podger is one of the most creative talents to emerge in the field of period performance. Over the last two decades she has established herself as a leading interpreter of the music of the Baroque and Classical periods and holds numerous recordings to her name ranging from early seventeenth century music to Mozart. She was educated in Germany and in England at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with David Takeno and Micaela Comberti.
After beginnings with The Palladian Ensemble and Florilegium, she was leader of The English Concert from 1997 to 2002. In 2004 Rachel began a guest directorship with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, touring Europe and the USA. A highlight of this collaboration was a televised concert at the BBC Proms in 2007. 2009 saw a recording of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with violist Pavlo Beznosiuk, together with 2 Haydn Violin concertos.
Over the years Rachel has enjoyed numerous collaborations with orchestras all over the world; projects special to her have been those with Arte dei Suonatori (Poland), Musica Angelica and Santa Fe Pro Musica (USA), The Academy of Ancient Music, The European Union Baroque Orchestra and the Holland Baroque Society.
Rachel records exclusively for Channel Classics; her highly acclaimed interpretation of J.S.Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin and his Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord (with Trevor Pinnock) were both awarded first place by the BBC's "Building a Library" programme. The Solo Sonatas and Partitas have received much attention over the 10 years since their release, including no 1 on Amazon, Critic’s Choice of the Year and 10/10 from Compact Disc. Rachel's recording of Telemann's Twelve Fantasies for Solo Violin won the prestigious Diapason d'Or and her 2003 recording of Vivaldi's 12 violin concertos "La Stravaganza" also received the Diapason d'Or as well as winning the 2003 Gramophone Award for Best Baroque Instrumental recording. Her Duo with harpsichordist and fortepianist Gary Cooper not only enjoyed success through their complete Mozart Sonatas recording project (2004-2009) but also through their diverse concert tours of the US and Europe. The Mozart Sonatas series enjoyed worldwide critical acclaim and received numerous accolades, including Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice and the Diapason d‘Or awards. This summer (2010) sees the release of a disc of Bach's Violin Concertos with Rachel’s new ensemble Brecon Baroque.
In 2006 Rachel became artistic director of her own annual festival, the Brecon Baroque Festival, a four-day event which features a Baroque Ball as well as concerts by Brecon Baroque and the Festival Orchestra, which is made up of young professionals, international students and local players. For more information see breconbeaconsmusic.com.
Teaching is a significant part of Rachel's musical life. She teaches at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she holds the Jane Hodge Foundation International Chair in Baroque Violin, she is Visiting Professor of Baroque Violin and Fellow of The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and is Visiting Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen. In September 2008 she took up the newly-founded Michaela Comberti Chair for Baroque Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she is also an Honorary Member.
July 2010
Brecon Baroque
The dynamic ensemble Brecon Baroque was founded in 2007 by violinist Rachel Podger as resident ensemble at her annual Brecon Baroque Festival. The international line-up consists of some of some of the leading lights in the period-instrument world, such as cellist Alison McGillivray, flautist Katie Bircher, oboist Alexandra Bellamy and violist Jane Rogers, as well as some of Rachel's “star” former students who now occupy leading positions in many of Europe's finest ensembles. Brecon Baroque specializes in the music of J.S.Bach and his contemporaries, often as a one-to-a-part ensemble but also as a small Baroque orchestra. Over the last two years the ensemble has performed several of Bach's Cantatas for solo soprano with Elin Manahan Thomas and will do so again in 2011. Later this year, Rachel and Brecon Baroque will perform and record Bach's Violin Concertos for Channel Classics. Future recording plans include Bach's Art of Fugue and Telemann's great collection Tafelmusik. The ensemble's London debut is at the Wigmore Hall on 22nd December.