Georg Friedrich Händel Alexander's Feast

George Frideric Handel put his exceptionally versatile compositional abilities to the test at an early age. After moving to London in 1712, where he was appointed Composer of Musick for His Majesty’s Chapel Royal in 1723, he wrote numerous masterpieces for the royal court as well as his major opere serie. For many years he enjoyed triumphant successes with his operas, which were sung by outstanding performers, with serenades, and later also with oratorios such as Saul and Israel in Egypt. Over the years Handel’s reputation grew far beyond the city where he worked; some of his choral works, particularly Messiah, have enjoyed a performance tradition which remains unbroken to this day, and are sung by choirs throughout the world. Personal details

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The period instrument ensemble Collegium Cartusianum, founded in 1988 as successor to the Barockorchester Koln, has a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Brahms. The ensemble’s participation in the complete recording of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s masses conducted by Peter Neumann earned it an outstanding reputation, subsequently confirmed by many concerts, radio broadcasts and CD recordings. As well as collaborating with the Kolner Kammerchor, the Collegium Cartusianum has also received international acclaim for its performances of J. S. Bach’s Orchestral Suites as well as Mozart and Beethoven symphonies. With Mozart’s Il Re Pastore, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul and Elijah, and Dvo?ak’s Requiem the orchestra has extended its repertoire to include opera and romantic works. It has appeared at many leading festivals in Europe and Japan, recently at the Leipzig Bach Festival with a Handel-Bach program, with Handel’s Serenata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in Krakow and Essen at the second “Fest fur Alte Musik” in Cologne in February 2012. Personal details

In recent years Peter Neumann, born in Karlsruhe, has made a name for himself particularly as a conductor of Handel’s music. This is demonstrated both by the concert series “250 Years Handel Oratorios” which he initiated – performing nine music dramas in accordance with Handel’s concert schedule of 1749–1752 – and by his numerous CD recordings. He has performed masterworks from vocal and orchestral music in the European musical capitals and at many renowned festivals, ranging from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Vespers for the Blessed Virgin (Palais Garnier, Paris) through J. S. Bach’s passions (last in Moscow, Oslo and Versailles) and Mass in B minor (BBC Proms) to Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien at the MusikTriennale in Cologne. 2010, Peter Neumann and his ensembles Kolner Kammerchor and Collegium Cartusianum were guests at the Rheingau Music Festival with Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri and at the Schumann Festival in Dusseldorf as well as the Leipzig Bach Festival in 2011. In June 2012 he made his highly acclaimed debut at the Cologne Opera with Handel’s Alcina. As a guest conductor, Neumann has collaborated with, among others, ChorWerkRuhr, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, the NDR Choir, the Schola Cantorum Tokyo, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and Concerto Koln. Highlights of his extensive discography include the complete recording of Mozart’s masses (Gramophone “Crown of Crowns”), Schutz’s Musical Vesper, Schumann’s Missa sacra (Diapason d’Or) and recordings of Bach’s St. John Passion and Handel’s Alexander’s Feast and Brockes Passion (Carus). Personal details

Internationally Simone Kermes is one of the most sought after sopranos for dramatic roles. Her unusually large vocal range predestined her for the virtuoso works of the baroque masters, but also for soprano roles and arias of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Artistic engagements have taken her to the largest, most famous concert halls in the world. She has given solo concerts in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, and the Palau de la music in Barcelona. In addition to many radio and television productions she has recorded many CDs. She has received numerous awards for her solo albms, including the annual prize of the German Record Critics, the Diapason d’Or, BBC music choice, Gramophone Disc of the month and the ECHO Classic award. Personal details

Virgil Hartinger studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Eastman School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory in the USA, and has taken part in master classes with Thomas Hampson, Ernst Haefliger and Richard Miller. He has worked with conductors including Jamie Laredo, Ton Koopman, Peter Neumann, Paul O’Dette, Reinhard Goebel, Christophe Coin and Sigiswald Kuijken. His repertoire ranges from the renaissance to contemporary works in concert and operatic repertoire. While still studying, he began a busy concert schedule which has taken him to the Salzburg Festival, the Folle Journée in Nantes and Lisbon, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Theâtre des Champs Élysées (Paris), Prinzregententheater (Munich) and Carnegie Hall. Personal details

Konstantin Wolff studied with Donald Litaker at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe. He won the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Prize from the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, was awarded a scholarship by the German National Academic Foundation and made his opera debut in 2005 at the Opera National de Lyon under William Christie in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. His concert repertoire ranges from the early baroque to the 20th century. He has performed with conductors including Gerd Albrecht, Alun Francis, Riccardo Chailly, Ton Koopman, René Jacobs, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle and Nicholas McGegan. His first solo CD, a recording of Lieder to texts by Victor Hugo, has been enthusiastically received. Personal details