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About Helmut Müller-Brühl
Artist Biography
Helmut Müller-Brühl was a highly respected German conductor whose long association with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, both in concert and in the recording studio, won over a large following from critics and the public alike. He recorded for a number of major labels, including Naxos, EMI, and Koch Schwann.
Helmut Müller-Brühl was born in Brühl, Germany. He showed musical talent early on, but did not give serious thought to a career in music until after concluding studies in philosophy and Catholic theology. He enrolled at the University of Cologne where he studied music with Joseph Schmidt Goerg and Karl Gustav Fellerer. He also took private instruction on violin and viola from Ernst Nippes.
In 1955, Müller-Brühl's burgeoning career was temporarily derailed when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Shortly after his recovery, he met violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan, who would become his musical mentor. In 1958, Müller-Brühl began his long association with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble founded in 1923 by Hermann Abendroth. The young Müller-Brühl studied conducting with Abendroth and in 1964 was appointed the Cologne Chamber Orchestra's music director.
Müller-Brühl immediately established a reputation in the interpretation of Baroque repertory and soon began to lead his Cologne-based group in works on original instruments. In 1976, following strict historic performance practices and using original instruments, the ensemble adopted the name of Capella Clementina. During this period, Müller-Brühl and his orchestra achieved high praise, some critics regarding them among the most important forces in the realm of historic performance.
In 1987, the group reverted to its original name, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, and began playing on modern instruments once again, while still embracing historic performance practices. The following year Müller-Brühl and his ensemble established a highly successful series of concerts at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall under the name Das Meisterwerk (The Masterwork) and performed mostly Baroque repertory.
In 1995, concerts from this series were led by Müller-Brühl at the Champs-Elysée Theater in Paris. Beginning in the 1990s, the conductor began issuing many recordings on the Naxos label, some divulging Müller-Brühl's mastery of repertory out of the Baroque realm: he has lead an extensive series of Haydn symphonies, as well as several discs of Mozart works, all with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. In the first decade of the new century he remained active with the ensemble, both in concert and in the recording studio.
Hometown
Brühl
Genre
Classical
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