Das lied von der erde

biographies

het collectief

Het Collectief is a chamber music ensemble formed in 1998 in Brussels. By working consistently with a core group of five musicians, the group developed an intriguing sound of their own, characterised by a heterogeneous blend of wind, strings and piano. In its repertoire, Het Collectief returns to the roots of modernism: the Second Viennese School. From this firm base, they explore both the great compositions of the twentieth century and the latest experimental schools. Furthermore, the group creates a buzz with controversial crossovers between the contemporary and traditional repertoires and with adaptations of historical music. In addition to its many concerts in Belgium, Het Collectief also has an international presence in the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Austria, Malta, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, South America (Peru and Brazil) and Asia (Hong Kong)

Gregor Mayrhofer

After studying conducting under Alan Gilbert at the Julliard School, New York, the German conductor, composer and pianist Gregor Mayrhofer was appointed assistant conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker by Sir Simon Rattle in 2017. A scholarship from Berlin’s Karajan Academy enabled him to assist such legends as Kiril Petrenko, Teodor Currentzis, Bernhard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Herbert Blomstedt, Mariss Jansons, François Xavier-Roth, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, Paavo Järvi and his former teacher, Alan Gilbert. At the Berliner Staatsoper, he assisted Matthias Pintscher, and Michael Boder at the Wiener Staatsoper. As a conductor, Gregor Mayrhofer has worked with the Bayerische Staatsoper orchestra, the SWR Symphonieorchester, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Slovenian Philharmonic and the Münchner Kammerorchester. He has conducted creations with the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Ensemble Intercontemporain in both the Cologne and the Paris Philharmonies. He has also conducted concerts with the Ensemble Ascolta, the Ensemble Proton Bern, the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble and soloists including Daniil Trifonov, Georg Nigl and Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

Lucile Richardot

The French alto and mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot studied at the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame in Paris. She specialised in early music and founded her own ensemble in 2011, Tictactus, comprising herself and two theorbo players. While she specialises in Baroque music, Lucile Richardot sings music from the medieval period up to contemporary. She sings regularly with various French ensembles such as Les Solistes XXI, Correspondances, Pygmalion and Les Arts Florissants. With the latter group, conducted by Paul Agnew, she was involved in the complete performance of all of Claudio Monteverdi’s madrigals. The same Paul Agnew invited her to perform Bach’s Saint John Passion with the Liverpool Symphony Orchestra. Lucile Richardot has sung roles in Baroque operas by Lully, Purcell, Mazzochi and others. She can also often be heard performing contemporary repertoire at a range of festivals in France. She gives song recitals and sings solos in oratorios and Passions, including with Collegium Vocale Gent conducted by Philippe Herreweghe

Yves Saelens

Yves Saelens studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Juilliard School in New York. He won the Salzburg International Mozart Competition among others and was proclaimed ‘Young Musician of the Year 2004’ by the Vereniging van Belgische Muziekpers (Belgian Music Press Association). Yves Saelens has been a soloist in countless cantatas and oratorios throughout Europe, North America and Asia. He made his opera debut in the role of Paolino in Il Matrimonio Segreto (Cimarosa) before becoming an in-demand interpreter of Mozart. He has sung in all of the major opera houses of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France and has also performed in Carnegie Hall, New York, the Konzerthaus, Vienna and the Theater an der Wien. He has worked with such conductors as Serge Baudo, Sigiswald Kuijken, Helmut Rilling, Michel Corboz, Peter Schreier, Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset, René Jacobs, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Dennis Russel Davies, Marcello Viotti, Evelino Pidò, Friedemann Layer, Reinbert de Leeuw and many others.

Reinbert de Leeuw

Reinbert de Leeuw (1938-2020) was an impassioned conductor, pianist, composer and champion of contemporary music. He studied music theory and piano in Amsterdam and composition under Kees van Baaren in The Hague. With fellow students Louis Andriessen, Jan van Vlijmen, Peter Schat and Misha Mengelberg, he tried to change the Dutch musical landscape in the 1960s. Throughout his life de Leeuw was an ambassador for such composers as György Ligeti, Galina Ustvolskaya and Claude Vivier. In 1974 he founded the Schönberg Ensemble with students from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. This ensemble, which merged into Asko|Schönberg, initially focused on performing music from the Second Viennese School, and under de Leeuw’s leadership it became an internationally-celebrated contemporary music ensemble. Until the mid-1980s De Leeuw was also an active composer. From then on, he was mainly occupied as an arranger.