Orchester der Kölner Akademie
The Kölner Akademie, in English the Cologne Academy, is a historical-performance ensemble based in Cologne, Germany. Strongly committed to the idea of authentic performance, they emphasize historically documented performance practices, try to approximate the number of performers a work would have had in its own time, and use editions of the music that come as close as possible to what composers themselves wrote down or intended. Despite, or perhaps because of, this specialist focus, the Kölner Akademie has had an unusually vigorous recording career, issuing more than 40 albums. The Kölner Akademie was founded in 1996 and has performed at major concert halls and festivals around the world, including in South America, Asia, and the Middle East. The group has an associated professional choir that joins them for vocal music performances and for recordings that have included world premieres of music by Francesco Durante, Johann Valentin Meder, Car Heinrich Graun, Johann Mattheson, Johann Friedrich Agricola, and Johann Wilhelm Hertel. Indeed, much of the group's recording activity has been devoted to lost or previously underexposed music, including Classical-era composers Bernhard Crusell, Franz Danzi, and Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda. The Kölner Akademie has recorded mostly for the Ars Produktion and CPO labels, with other albums appearing on the German labels Carus and Raumklang. In the 2010s they were signed to Sweden's BIS label and began a cycle of Mozart's piano concerts with fortepianist Ronald Brautigam; these recordings offered innovative, unorthodox readings grounded in evidence of historical practices. The Kölner Akademie is led by the American conductor Michael Alexander Willens, a Juilliard School graduate who studied with Leonard Bernstein. The group's recordings have garnered major awards such as an ECHO Klassik Prize for their recording of Johann Mattheson's Das größte Kind, and a Supersonic award for their album of Bernhard Romberg's symphonies.
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Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Kalliwoda: Violin Concertinos & Overtures
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Ariadne Daskalakis, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on Jul 3, 2015
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mandolinenkonzerte
Aino Hildebrant, Julie Maas, Anna Torge, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Concertos - Released by Ars Produktion on Oct 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kalliwoda: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 & Overture No. 17
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on Aug 23, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eberl: Piano Concertos (Paolo Giacometti - Riko Fukuda)
Paolo Giacometti, Riko Fukuda, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eberl: Concerto for 2 Pianos & Sonatas for Piano 4 Hands
Paolo Giacometti, Riko Fukuda, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on May 4, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Neukomm: Fantasies & Sinfonie Heroïque
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on Oct 1, 2012
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ries, F.: Concerto for 2 Horns, Woo 19 / Violin Concerto No. 1 / Overtures To Die Rauberbraut and The Sorceress
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Teunis van der Zwart, Anton Steck, Michael Alexander Willens, Erwin Wieringa
Classical - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Neapolitan Christmas
Roberta Mameli, Ursula Eittinger, Andreas Post, Stephan MacLeod, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on Nov 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quantz: 4 Concertos for Flute & Strings
Eric Lamb, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by Profil on May 4, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
E.T.A. Hoffmann: Symphony & Overtures / Witt: Sinfonia in A Major
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on Feb 3, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romberg: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 5
Davit Melkonyan, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by CPO on Mar 4, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Masonic Works – Cantatas & Funeral Music
John Heuzenroeder, Chor der Kölner Akademie, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Feb 23, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 22
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Feb 1, 2014
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 27
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Sep 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Aria & Piano Concertos
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Oct 1, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Apr 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trésors oubliés (Volume 10)
Masumi Nagasawa, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Symphonic Music - Released by Ars Produktion on Apr 18, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Posthorn Serenade & Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Mar 3, 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4 "Pasticcio Concertos"
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Sep 2, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 8, 11 & 13
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Sep 1, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Ronald Brautigam, Orchester der Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Classical - Released by BIS on Feb 1, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo