History 
Geschichte
Biography
The Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein
Principal conductor: Lavard Skou Larsen
Chief guest conductor: Ralf Gothoni
The first season of the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss under its new chief conductor Lavard Skou Larsen was a colourful, exciting and enjoyable, and was rewarded by an increase of almost 25% in the number of its season ticket holders. Larsen's idea of recreating each composer's original sound world, in whatever century that might be, was brought to fruition with much dedication and attention to detail. The result was that this summer the ensemble has for the first time been appointed resident orchestra at the international Mozarteum summer academy at Salzburg, which takes place in the context of the world-famous Salzburg Festival.
Participation in a further musical festival has just taken place: at the Finnish Naantali Festival in June 2006 the Deutsche Kammerakademie performed under its new chief guest conductor, the outstanding conductor and pianist Ralf Gothóni, whose exceptionally close rapport with the ensemble has been established over the years.
Between the periods covered by these two festivals three concerts are scheduled which deserve particular mention. At the instigation of the province of North-Rhine-Westphalia the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss will combine with the King's Singers and the Federal Jazz Orchestra to provide the musical contribution to the two semifinals and the final of the FIFA football world championships.
When the ensemble was founded 29 years ago by the cellist and conductor Johannes Goritzki, it was based on the vision of the string quartet as string orchestra. The combination of the conductor's personality, the virtuosity and commitment of the musicians, a regular rehearsal programme and successes throughout Europe and overseas have securely established the orchestra in the musical world. The Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss has been funded by the city of Neuss since 1983 and has received invaluable support from such sponsors as the Neuss Savings Bank, 3M and Mercedes. Over the years the orchestra has developed a broad and diverse repertoire ranging from the baroque to the avantgarde.
The Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss has often ventured into unexplored territory and has several world premieres to its credit, one example being the cello concerto dedicated to the orchestra by the composer Isang Yun. Equally important are co-productions with other eminent partners. 1992 saw the start of the ensemble's collaboration with the Stuttgart Wind Academy and since 1996 there have been contacts with the wind players of the Dresden Staatskapelle. Friends of the orchestra such as Bruno Giuranna, Aurèle Nicolet, Radu Lupu, Isabelle van Keulen, Frank-Peter Zimmermann, Nigel Kennedy and Yehudi Menuhin have all performed with it by invitation.
International tours have taken the Akademie around the world - to Rome, Paris, Copenhagen, Cairo and Buenos Aires as well as major cities in South East Asia, China and Japan. In addition the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss can regularly be heard in the major concert halls of Germany. Performances at the Berlin Festival, the Enescu Festival in Bucharest and the Beethoven Easter Festival, Krakow, received ovations, and the orchestra has been honoured by invitations from Lord Yehudi Menuhin to play in Gstaad and from Gidon Kremer to play in Lockenhaus. It has toured Austria and Switzerland with Krzysztof Penderecki and in 1994 visited Australia. On its return the ensemble undertook a tour together with Hildegard Behrens and Thomas Quasthoff with performances in the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Musikverein Vienna.
In addition to their work on the concert platform, the enterprising spirit of the musicians and their conductors is demonstrated by the production of nearly thirty CDs. The orchestra has long been valued by labels such as cpo, Claves and Capriccio for recording unjustly neglected works. Notable recordings include the opera Montezuma by Graun, the symphonies of Boccherini and Michael Haydn, the bandoneon concerto by Astor Piazzolla, the cello concerto by Othmar Schoeck - awarded a Grand Prix du disque - and the three string concertos by Allan Petterson which were nominated for a prize in the 1995 Cannes Classical Awards. Latest available recordings include the melodrama Dirna by E.T.A. Hoffmann and Lehár's operetta Frühling (both on cpo). In 2004 cpo released a further rarity by Lehár, Der Sterngucker (The stargazer), also performed with the Deutsche Kammerakademie, which immediately won the German record critics' quarterly prize. Newly released by capriccio is a CD of sacred works by Michael Haydn and Georg von Pasterwiz which has attracted considerable attention.
