Breaking: Harpsichordist will take over from Harnoncourt
mainThe first crisis left by Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s decision to retire immediately from all performances is a Fidelio, coming up at the Theater an der Wien on January 17.
We’re informed it will be led by Harnoncourt’s assistant, the harpsichord player, Stefan Gottfried. It’s not clear at this stage if he will direct from the keyboard. The singers include Juliane Banse, Michael Schade and Anna Prohaska.
Gottfried, Vienna born, studied piano with Michael Hrubý and harpsichord with Gordon Murray. He has been Harnoncourt’s regular assistant since 2004.
“It’s not clear at this stage if he will direct from the keyboard.”
Does Fidelio actually have a basso continuo keyboard instrument in its recitatives, or is that an inside joke I’m not getting? It is known to happen … 😉
No basso continuo in Fidelio
Aha!
Maybe he was also an assistant on the production of Fidelio that Harnoncourt conducted at Theater an der Wien just just recently in 2013?
http://www.theater-wien.at/index.php/de/spielplan/production/100148