Nikolaus Harnoncourt

A descendant of the Habsburg and Huguenot dynasties, Nikolaus Harnoncourt (born in Berlin in 1929) was a trailblazing pioneer of historically informed performance practice, and one of the first of its exponents to cross over into conducting mainstream symphonic and operatic repertoire. In 1953, while a cellist in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, he founded Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) to perform Baroque music on the instruments of the period; the ensemble made its recorded debut in Purcell and initially concentrated on 17th-century music. Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Harnoncourt and CMW were engaged on a project with Gustav Leonhardt to record all of Bach’s cantatas and large-scale choral works. At this time he branched into guest-conducting, building strong relationships with the Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna Philharmonic, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, with whom he espoused a historically aware outlook on modern instruments. His repertoire soon broached Beethoven and the later 19th century with Brahms and Bruckner, while at the same time exploring neglected music such as Haydn’s operas and branching into the lighter styles of Offenbach and the Viennese Strausses. His music-making is characterized by a singular vision, a determination to buck tradition, and an often individual approach to rhythm: His 2009 recording, Gershwin: Porgy & Bess, swings in a way only he could. Harnoncourt retired officially in December 2015, just three months before his death.