Ton Koopman

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Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Background information
Born (1944-10-02) 2 October 1944 (age 79)
Zwolle, Netherlands
GenresBaroque
Occupation(s)Conductor
Instrument(s)Organ and harpsichord

Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman (Dutch: [ˈkoːpmɑn]; born 2 October 1944), known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir.

He is a professor in the

University of Leiden. In April 2003 he was knighted in the Netherlands and received the Order of the Netherlands Lion
.

Biography

Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ (with Simon C. Jansen), harpsichord (with Gustav Leonhardt), and musicology at the Amsterdam conservatory. He specialized in Baroque music and received the Prix d'Excellence for both organ and harpsichord.

On the organ, he never learned how to play with heels and toes, and because of his short height, always plays with his toes on the pedalboard. This is an authentic Baroque practice.

Koopman founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in 1992 – now combined as the

Concert Champêtre of Francis Poulenc
, written in 1928.

Bach cantatas project

Main article: Bach cantatas (Koopman)

Among Koopman's most ambitious projects was the recording of the complete cycle of all of

Challenge Classics. "Antoine Marchand" is a French translation of his own name.[3]

Soloists for the project were among others Lisa Larsson, Cornelia Samuelis, Sandrine Piau, Sibylla Rubens, Barbara Schlick, Caroline Stam, Deborah York and Johannette Zomer (soprano), Bogna Bartosz, Michael Chance, Franziska Gottwald, Bernhard Landauer, Elisabeth von Magnus, Annette Markert and Kai Wessel (alto), Paul Agnew, Jörg Dürmüller, James Gilchrist, Christoph Prégardien and Gerd Türk (tenor) and Klaus Mertens (bass).

Buxtehude project

In addition to the works of Bach, Koopman has long been an advocate of the music of Bach's teacher and predecessor,

Philips Classics and several cantatas for Erato. He was elected president of the "International Dieterich Buxtehude Society" in 2004. Following the completion of the Bach cantatas project Koopman then embarked on a recording of the complete works of Buxtehude. In 2005 he commenced Dieterich Buxtehude – Opera Omnia, a project to record the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude
, which he finished in October 2014.

Other projects

Besides his work with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, he is in frequent demand as guest conductor and as harpsichordist and organist. In 2011, Koopman began a three-year stint as artist-in-residence with the Cleveland Orchestra.[4]

His aim is always to achieve authenticity in performance, using historical instruments from the time of the composer, and/or exact copies of them, often using historic musical temperaments, and adopting the performing style of the composers or their contemporaries. The scholar (and fellow keyboardist/conductor) John Butt has criticised Koopman's interpretation of Bach's Goldberg Variations for its overuse of ornamentation,[5] which he attributes to a desire to differentiate his interpretation from those of Gustav Leonhardt.

Awards and honours

In 2003 he was made a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.[6] In January 2024 he was awarded the medallion of honour from the mayor of the city he was born in, Zwolle.[7]

Personal life

Koopman is married to Tini Mathot, who is also a harpsichordist and fortepianist, and the two frequently perform together. Mathot is also his chief recording producer, as well as a teacher at the Royal Conservatory.[8] On 11 October 2012 the documentary Live to be a hundred – a year in the life of Ton Koopman was released in Dutch cinemas.

Discography

Koopman's extensive discography includes the complete

Sweelinck's complete keyboard works, the complete works of Buxtehude
,
Handel's Messiah
and Organ Concertos. Koopman has received many prizes for his recordings.

Notes

  1. ^ "Bach JS – Harpsichord Concertos – Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman". 20 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Ton Koopman and the Bach cantatas". 19 May 1996.
  3. ^ Billboard – 5 July 2003 – Page 13 Vol. 115, n° 27 "Koopman Gets Back on his Bach Cycle – Koopman started his own Antoine Marchand label imprint and, with the help of a financier friend, revised his search for an existing label that would take on finished master tapes for manufacturing and distribution."
  4. ^ "Tuned In: Gabriele, come blow your horn for Philharmonia Baroque". 7 February 2011.
  5. ISBN 0-8032-1051-5
  6. ^ "Lintjesregen daalt vooral op niet-BN'ers niet". Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 29 April 2003. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  7. ^ Bosch, Arjan (28 January 2024). "Geëerde Ton Koopman (79) stond in grootste concertzalen van de wereld: 'Maar een Blauwvinger blijf ik altijd'" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Tini Mathot (Harpsichord) – Short Biography". www.bach-cantatas.com.

References

External links

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