Preußens Hofmusik

»Preußens Hofmusik«: German for »Prussian Court Music«, this is the name under which musicians from the Staatskapelle, a respected institution that has cultivated a long, nearly 450-year-old tradition, came together some years ago. Directed by violinist Stephan Mai, one of the founding members of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the ensemble is dedicated primarily to the performance of repertoire from Berlin and Potsdam at the time of Prussian king Friedrich II and also plays works from other European musical centers dating back to the same period. The particular focus of the ensemble rests on composers who resided in cities of the Prussian royal seat, such as the highly gifted sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, and the Graun brothers, whose original compositions had a great impact on the musical life of Berlin around the mid-19th century. However, the symphonies and concertos of composers of the First Viennese School, Haydn and Mozart, as well as the compositions from the Baroque can be heard regularly as well.  

 
While the members of »Prussian Court Music« play on modern instruments, their musical interpretations are informed by historical performance practice. The instrumentation of the ensemble varies according to the demands of the repertoire, and the group makes four concert appearances per season in the Apollo Hall at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. In addition to these appearances, the musicians have also performed at the reopening of the Berlin Bode Museum and were heard in concert at the »Preußischer Landtag« Berlin parliamentary building and the Hotel Adlon. Their first recording, which includes works by the Bach family, Johann Gottlieb Graun and Joseph Haydn, was released on the Berlin Classics label in the summer of 2006.