Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt was born on December 6, 1929, and died on March 5, 2016. He was an Austrian conductor who performed music in a way that closely followed historical practices. He was especially known for his work with music from the Baroque era, but later also performed music from the Classical and early Romantic periods. Some of his most famous recordings include works by Johann Sebastian Bach, which he performed with Gustav Leonhardt in the 1930s.

Harnoncourt began his career as a classical cellist. In 1953, he started his own group that used period instruments, called Concentus Musicus Wien. This made him an early leader in the movement to revive and perform old music. Around 1970, he began conducting operas and concerts. Soon after, he led international symphony orchestras and performed at famous concert halls, opera houses, and festivals. In 2001 and 2003, he conducted the Vienna New Year's Concert.

Harnoncourt also wrote several books. His works focused on the history of how music was performed and topics related to music theory and how music should be interpreted.

Early life

Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1929. His mother, Ladislaja née Gräfin von Meran, Freiin von Brandhoven, was an Austrian citizen. She was the great-granddaughter of Habsburg Archduke Johann, who was the 13th child of Emperor Leopold II. This made her a descendant of Holy Roman Emperors and other European royalty. His father, Eberhard Harnoncourt, born de la Fontaine Graf d'Harnoncourt- Unverzagt, was an Austrian engineer working in Berlin. He had two children from a previous marriage. Two years after Nikolaus's birth, his brother Philipp was born. In 1931, the family moved to Graz, Austria, the capital of Styria. They lived in their ancestral home, Palais Meran. Eberhard obtained a position in the state government (Landesregierung) of Styria.

Harnoncourt was raised in Graz and studied music in Vienna. During his youth, he served in the Hitler Youth under duress, where, as he noted: "At the Vienna Music Academy, Harnoncourt studied cello with Paul Grümmer and Emanuel Brabec, and also learned viola da gamba."

Career

Nikolaus Harnoncourt was a cellist who played with the Vienna Symphony from 1952 to 1969. In 1953, he started a group called Concentus Musicus Wien with his wife, Alice Hoffelner, whom he married that same year. This group focused on playing music on old, historical instruments. During this time, Harnoncourt also played the viola da gamba and the cello. For the Telefunken (later Teldec) label, he recorded music from the Baroque period, including works by Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi, and Jean-Philippe Rameau. One of his last recordings with Concentus Musicus Wien was Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5.

Harnoncourt left the Vienna Symphony to become a conductor. He made his conducting debut at La Scala in Milan during the 1972/73 season, directing a performance of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at La Piccola Scala.

In 1971, Harnoncourt worked with conductor Gustav Leonhardt to record all of J.S. Bach’s cantatas. This project, completed in 1990, was unique because it used an all-male choir and soloists, except for two cantatas meant for a female soprano. He also recorded the first historically informed versions of Bach’s Mass in B minor (1968) and St. Matthew Passion (1970). In 2001, he released a Grammy Award-winning recording of the St. Matthew Passion with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, which included the complete score in Bach’s handwriting on a CD-ROM. This was his third recording of the work.

Later, Harnoncourt performed with orchestras using modern instruments but still focused on historical accuracy in timing and volume. He continued playing Baroque music and also promoted Viennese operettas. He made an important recording of Beethoven’s symphonies with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) and recorded Beethoven’s piano concertos with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the COE.

Harnoncourt was a guest conductor for the Vienna Philharmonic and recorded with the orchestra. From 1987 to 1991, he directed four new productions of Mozart operas at the Vienna State Opera: Idomeneo (1987–91), Die Zauberflöte (1988–90), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1989), and Così fan tutte (1989–91). He also led the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day concerts in 2001 and 2003.

In 1992, Harnoncourt debuted at the Salzburg Festival with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He later conducted concerts with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Concentus Musicus. He also directed major opera productions at the festival, including L’incoronazione di Poppea (1993), Le nozze di Figaro (1995 and 2006), Don Giovanni (2002 and 2003), La clemenza di Tito (2003 and 2006), and King Arthur (2004). In 2012, he conducted a new production of Die Zauberflöte directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog.

Harnoncourt made his guest-conducting debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in 1975. He continued working with the orchestra in operas and recordings. In October 2000, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra named him their Honorair gastdirigent (Honorary Guest Conductor). His final performance with the orchestra was in October 2013, when he conducted Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5.

Other recordings outside the Baroque and Classical periods included his 2002 recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 with the Vienna Philharmonic. A second CD included a lecture by Harnoncourt about the symphony with musical examples, including rare parts of the unfinished finale. In 2009, he recorded Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess from live performances in Graz. He also conducted Rudolf Buchbinder’s recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 25.

On December 5, 2015, one day before his 86th birthday, Harnoncourt announced his retirement on his website. He wrote in a hand-written letter included in the program for a Concentus Musicus Wien concert that his physical strength required him to cancel future plans.

Harnoncourt was the focus of the Styriarte festival, created in 1985 to connect him with his hometown, Graz. He helped program the festival for 31 years, with events held in Graz and surrounding areas.

Personal life

Nikolaus Harnoncourt met his wife, Alice, because they both shared an interest in performing Baroque music in a way that follows historical practices. Together, they started the Concentus Musicus Wien. Their daughter is Elisabeth von Magnus, a mezzo-soprano. Their two sons who are still alive are Philipp and Franz. Their third son, Eberhard, who made violins, died in 1990 in an automobile accident.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt died on March 5, 2016, in the village of Sankt Georgen im Attergau, which is northeast of Salzburg. At the time of his death, Alice, their three adult children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren survived him. Alice passed away in July 2022.

Awards

• Erasmus Prize (Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, Netherlands, 1980)
• Joseph Marx Music Prize of the province of Styria (1982)
• Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class (1987)
• Honorary Membership of the Society of Music Friends in Vienna (1992)
• Léonie Sonning Music Prize (Denmark, 1993)
• Polar Music Prize (Sweden, 1994)
• Honorary Membership of the University of the Arts Graz (1995)
• Hanseatic Goethe Prize (1995)
• Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau (1997)
• Hans von Bülow Medal (Berlin, 1999)
• Honorary Guest Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam, 2000)
• Grammy Award (2001)
• Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, 2002)
• Bremen Music Festival Prize (2002)
• Georg Philipp Telemann Prize (Magdeburg, 2004)
• Kyoto Prize for Lifetime Achievement (Japan, 2005)
• Grand Gold Decoration with Star of Styria (2005)
• Bach Medal (Leipzig, 2007)
• Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (2008)
• Honorary Doctor (Mozarteum University Salzburg, 2008)
• Honorary Citizenship of Sankt Georgen im Attergau (2009)
• Gramophone Lifetime Achievement Award (London, 2009)
• Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal (2010)
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Music and Dance Cologne (2011)
• Gold Medal for services to the city of Vienna (2011) (together with Alice Harnoncourt)
• Romano Guardini Prize (2012)
• Voted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame (London, 2012)

Harnoncourt was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and of the Order Pour le Mérite for Science and Art, and an Honorary Doctor of the University of Edinburgh.

Recordings

• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Frans Brüggen, Leopold Stastny, Herbert Tachezi. Johann Sebastian Bach: Gamba Sonatas — Trio Sonata in G major. Viola da gamba: Jacobus Stainer; Cello: Andrea Castagneri; Flute: A. Grenser; Harpsichord: a copy after Italian builders by Martin Skowroneck. Label: Telefunken.
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Leonhardt-Consort (Orchestra), Concentus musicus Wien (Orchestra), Alan Curtis, Anneke Ulttenbosch, Herbert Tachezi. Johann Sebastian Bach: Harpsichord Concertos BWV 1052, 1057, 1064. Violin, continuo, harpsichord. Label: Teldec.
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Franz Schubert. Symphonies. Label: Ica Classics.
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Rudolf Buchbinder (fortepiano). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 25. Played on a replica of a Walter fortepiano made by Paul McNulty. Label: Sony.
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano). Ludwig van Beethoven. Piano Concertos Nos. 1–5. Label: Teldec Classics.
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Gidon Kremer (violin), Martha Argerich (piano). Schumann: Piano Concerto and Violin Concerto. Label: Teldec Classics.