Marie-Luise Neunecker
The precious jewel of this work shone in the horn part, in all timbres the glorious gold of the Romantic instrument, especially in the slow movement from which one could hear a strong musical connection to Brahms' favorite instrument.
Hailed for her exceptional talent and virtuosity, hornist Marie-Luise Neunecker has achieved worldwide success and built a successful international career as soloist and chamber musician.
During her tenure as principal horn of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1989, she attracted attention as prize winner at several prestigious international competitions such as the German Music Competition in Bonn (1982), the ARD Competition in Munich (1983) and the Concert Artists' Guild Competition in New York (1986). In 2013, Marie-Luise Neunecker was awarded the Frankfurt Music Prize.
She has performed on almost all the major concert stages of the world. Besides being a successful soloist with ensembles such as the radio symphony orchestras of the NDR, SWR, MDR, hr, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Vienna Philharmonic as well as the Bamberg Symphony, Marie-Luise Neunecker also appeared regularly as a chamber musician. She often worked with partners such as Christian Tetzlaff, Tobias Feldmann, Lars Vogt, Antje Weithaas, Silke Avenhaus, András Schiff, Martha Argerich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard, as well as with the Zehetmair Quartet.
She frequently appeared as guest chamber musician and soloist at the most important festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Marlboro Music Festival, the Risør Festival as well as at the Wiener Festwochen.
György Ligeti wrote his Hamburg Concerto for Marie-Luise Neunecker, which she premiered in January 2001. Since then, she has performed the concerto in several countries, including with the Aurora Orchestra in London as well as in its namesake city of Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie. With the Asko Ensemble and Reinberg de Leeuw she recorded it for the Ligeti Edition on Warner Classics.
Her numerous recordings, recognized with prizes such as the ECHO KLASSIK and a Grammy Award nomination, have not only demonstrated her outstanding quality as an artist and her exceptional musical versatility, they have also contributed to a wider knowledge of horn repertoire of various epochs. She released the Strauss Concertos with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ingo Metzmacher and Britten’s Horn Serenade with tenor Ian Bostridge. Other recordings include the Hindemith Concerto, and horn concertos by Russian composers Reinhold Glière, Alexander Glazunov and Vissarion Shebalin. As a chamber musician she has released recordings of the horn trios by Brahms with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Sawallisch, a recording with works from Othmar Schoeck, Charles Koechlin and Ethel Smyth and more recently, one with works by Hindemith, Kirchner, Brahms, Beethoven and Schumann with Lars Vogt at the piano.
Marie-Luise Neunecker was Professor of Horn at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin for many years and travels all over the world to give masterclasses.