The Christmas Oratorio

Vladimir Jurowski has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin since 2017. He has meanwhile extended his contract until 2027. In parallel, he has been General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich since 2021.

After receiving training at the Moscow Conservatory The conductor, pianist and musicologist Vladimir Jurowski emigrated to Germany in 1990. Here he continued his studies at the music conservatories in Dresden and Berlin.  In 1995 he made his international debut at the British Wexford Festival with Rimski-Korsakov’s Mainacht and in the same year at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with Nabucco. Subsequently he was, among other things, First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997- 2001) and Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001-2013). In 2003 Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and has been its Principal Conductor since 2007 until 2021. He was also Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra Yevgeny Svetlanov of the Russian Federation until 2021, Artistic Director of the International George Enescu Festival in Bucharest and Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Great Britain. He works regularly with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the ensemble unitedberlin.

Vladimir Jurowski has conducted the major orchestras of Europe and North America, including the Berlin, Vienna and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

He is a recurring guest conductor in in London, Berlin, Dresden, Luzern, Schleswig-Holstein und Grafenegg as well as at the Rostopowitsch-Festival. Although Vladimir Jurowski is invited as a guest conductor by top orchestras from all over the world, in future he would like to concentrate his activities on that geographical area which is acceptable to him from an ecological point of view.

Bright as a bell and angelic: these are attributes that come to mind when listening to Dorothee Mields’ voice come to mind. Without much fanfare, she has the front row of European baroque sopranos. And yet this voice in its clarity and purity never seems ascetic or boyish (there are angels like that too!), but always filled with filled with sensual warmth. (Source: jpc.de)

She recorded Bach’s cantatas, the Christmas Oratorio and the two great Passions with early music specialists such as Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale Gent or the ensembles of the J. S. Bach Foundation under Rudolf Lutz. In addition to Bach, Dorothee Mields is also enthusiastic about other baroque composers such as such as Graupner, Telemann, Purcell, Handel, Schütz and Monteverdi and for the music of the Renaissance as in the “Basevi Codex” project with the Boreas Quartet Bremen.

She has an intensive collaboration with the with the lautten compagney Berlin, with whom she has programs on English baroque music, Monteverdi and with music that reflects war events from 1618 to 1918.

Dorothee Mields is also involved in contemporary music, for example at the Munich Biennale or with the Klangforum Wien. She appreciates chamber music work with instrumentalists such as Stefan Temmingh Stefan Temmingh, Hille Perl, Tobias Koch and the Salagon Quartet.

Ulrike Malotta’s sensitive musicianship and strong stage presence have made her an internationally sought-after mezzo-soprano in a short space of time.

In the 2023/24 season, she made her debuts at the Elbphilharmonie and the Tonhalle Zurich. She is looking forward to a “St. Matthew Passion” with the Gürzenich Orchestra under the direction of Peter Dijkstra in the Cologne Philharmonie and to concerts with the “Christmas Oratorio” under the direction of Christoph Poppen in Hong Kong.

Ulrike Malotta studied singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and at the University of Music and Performing Arts Frankfurt, where she graduated with a Master’s degree. She attended master classes with Christa Ludwig, Christian Gerhaher, Helmut Deutsch, Andreas Scholl, Angelika Kirchschlager, Rudolf Piernay and Helmuth Rilling.

She toured with Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Choir under Howard Arman, including at the KKL Lucerne. She sang Graupner’s “Bewerbungskantaten” under Klaas Stok as part of the NDR concert series “Altes Werk” at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg. International concert tours have taken her to other European countries as well as South Africa, Russia, Canada and Israel. She was a guest of Václav Luks at the Rudolfinum in Prague. She gave a solo tour with Avner Biron and his Israel Camerata Jerusalem entitled “In Beethoven’s Shadow”. At the Montréal Bach Festival, she performed Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Collegium 1704 in the renowned Maison Symphonique. Last December, a tour of Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” with the Nederlandse Bachvereniging was on her agenda.

She works with conductors such as Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Ainars Rubikis, Alexander Liebreich and Ulf Schirmer and with orchestras such as the Akademie für Alte Musik, the Bochumer Symphoniker, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, the Münchner Symphoniker, the Bamberger Symphoniker and the Camerata Vocale Freiburg. The mezzo-soprano also knows how to impress on the music theater stage. She recently made her debut at the Bavarian State Opera in Penderecki’s “The Devils of Loudun” under the direction of GMD Vladimir Jurowski. At the Carl Orff Festival in Andechs, she performed with the Munich Symphony Orchestra under Hansjörg Albrecht as the profound Chiyo in Orff’s dramatic opera “Gisei – The Sacrifice”. Together with her piano partner Hedayet Djeddikar, she devotes herself to art song programs, some of them rare, with which they make guest appearances on song stages throughout Germany.

Their musical work has already been documented on numerous occasions. In the recording of Bach’s “St. John Passion” with the Bavarian Radio Choir and Concerto Köln, she sang the alto part (BR Klassik label). Only recently, CD recordings of Loewe’s oratorios “Das Sühnopfer des Neuen Bundes” and “Jan Huss” were released by OehmsClassics.

Sebastian Kohlhepp has established himself in recent years on the international opera and concert stages as one of the finest German tenors of his generation being praised for his “irresistible, gleaming” (Opera Magazine) and “distinctive tenor” (Das Opernglas).

In the last few seasons he debuted at Teatro Real Madrid, La Scala, Opernhaus Zürich, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Palau de les Arts Valencia, Semperoper Dresden and Salzburger Festspiele in roles such as Flamand/Capriccio, David/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Manolios/The Greek Passion, Walther/Tannhäuser, Narraboth/Salome, Ferrando/Cosi fan tutte, Don Ottavio/Don Giovanni and Tamino/Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Andris Nelsons, Christian Thielemann and Vladimir Jurowski, just to name a few. Last season he debuted in the title role of Idomeneo at Oper Köln.

Highlights of the season 24/25 include his return to Oper Köln for a new staged production of Hadyn’s Die Schöpfung under Marc Minkowski and Schumann’s Paradies und die Peri in a semi staged production with accentus and Insula orchestra in Paris and Vienna conducted by Laurence Equilbey. In concert he will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko at Osterfestspiele Baden-Baden, Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with Wiener Symphoniker and Václav Luks as well as with Rundfunksinfonieorchester Berlin and Vladimir Jurowski, Bruckner’s Mass in f minor with SWR Sinfonieorchester, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Netherlands Philharmonic under Karina Canellakis and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at La Scala conducted by Tugan Sokhiev.Sebastian Kohlhepp is a  former ensemble member of Wiener Staatsoper and Oper Stuttgart and has also appeared at Theater an der Wien, Theater Basel, De Nationale Opera Amsterdam and Volksoper Wien.

Equally in demand in concert he has worked with orchestras and ensembles such as Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Münchner Philharmoniker, Akademie für Alte Musik, Mozarteumorchester, RIAS Kammerchor, Collegium Vocale Gent, SWR Symphonieorchester and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and conductors such as Teodor Currentzis, Kent Nagano, Manfred Honeck, François-Xavier Roth, Ivor Bolton, René Jacobs, Pablo Heras Casado, Philippe Herreweghe, Peter Dijkstra and Leonardo García Alarcón performing the major works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Mendelssohn et al.

Numerous CD, DVD and radio recordings document Sebastian Kohlhepp’s versatile work. Most recently, a new recording of Bach’s Messe in h-moll with the RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik under René Jacobs was released on Harmonia Mundi in 2022. Kohlhepp’s Lied debut album “Von Sagen und Helden” co-produced with SWR Stuttgart and featuring works by Schumann, Liszt and Emil Sjörgen was released in 2023.

Anglo-German tenor Kieran Carrel has a busy and varied career, active in Opera, Concert and Recital.
As a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, his repertoire includes Tamino; Don Ottavio; Walther Tannhäuser; Erik Der fliegende Holländer; Froh Das Rheingold; Narraboth Salome; Alfred Die Fledermaus; Count Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia and Lysander A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Concert highlights in the current season and beyond include Mendelssohn Lobgesang with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Diego Fasolis; a recording and tour of Schumann Das Paradies und die Peri with Jordi Savall; Bach Weihnachtsoratorium with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and Evangelist in both the St John Passion with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Reuss and St Matthew Passion with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and Hartmut Haenchen.

Recent concerts include Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Thomanerchor Leipzig; Evangelist Bach St John Passion with The English Concert and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Das Paradies und die Peri in Utrecht with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kieran made his recital debut at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin in 2019 as part of the Heidelberger Frühling Schubert Week with Thomas Hampson and Hartmut Höll and in the same year was a finalist in the Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera International Song Competition, together with duo partner Richard Gowers. He recently performed a Schubert programme with Kristian Bezuidenhout at the 2024 MA Festival in Brugge and appeared at the Luxembourg Philharmonie with Graham Johnson. His connection to the Pierre Boulez Saal and Wigmore Hall continues with solo recitals in both halls, and, in addition, he has appeared at Wigmore Hall in a Hugo Wolf Song Gala with Christoph Prégardien and James Baillieu: sung Haydn canzonettas with András Schiff and Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with the Nash Ensemble.

Kieran has taken part in a complete Brahms Lieder disc with Ulrich Eisenlohr on NAXOS and other recordings include Mozart’s Requiem with Il Gardellino; CPE Bach’s Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu; Wolf Italienisches Liederbuch and Schumann Dichterliebe with Ensemble Opus and Ralf Gothoni.

Kieran studied in Cologne with Christoph Prégardien before continuing his education at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Neil Mackie.

German Bass-Baritone Andreas Wolf is one of the most sought-after interpreters on the international opera and concert stages, especially in Baroque and Classical repertoire.

Highlights of the season 2024/25 include performances of Bach’s Messe in h-moll  under Leonardo Garcia Alarcon at Festival Bach Montréal, at Verbier Festival and with Sao Paulo Symphony, a tour with Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Ton Koopman performing Handel’s Esther in the Netherlands, Brussels and Budapest, Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with Rundfunksinfonieorchester Berlin under Vladimir Jurowski as well as with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Thomanerchor, Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen on a tour through the Netherlands, Belgium and in Paris, Bach’s Matthäuspassion with Noord Nederlands Orkest as well as several projects with Cappella Mediterranea and concerts with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie in Paris and Berlin.

Andreas Wolf has performed at major opera houses like Teatro Real Madrid, Semperoper Dresden, La Monnaie Brussels, Bayrische Staatsoper München, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, Opera national du Rhin Strasbourg, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Grand Théâtre de Genève and  Oper Stuttgart as well as Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festdpiele, Innsbrucker Festwochen, Wiener Festwochen and Festival de Beaune in roles such as Figaro/Le Nozze di Figaro, Leporello/Don Giovanni, Papageno/Die Zauberflöte, Guglielmo/Cosi fan tutte, Jupiter/Platée, Aeneas/Dido and Aeneas, Zuniga/Carmen, Orbazzano/Tancredi, Falke/Die Fledermaus, Nanni/L’infedelta delusa and Eremit/Der Freischütz.

His extensive concert repertoire includes the major works from Bach and Händel to Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Berlioz up to Igor Stravinsky and Frank Martin.

Andreas Wolf enjoys a particularly close collaboration with Leonardo Garcia Alarcon and Cappella Mediterranea as well as with Ton Koopman and Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Next to these he has worked with conductors such as René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon, Raphaël Pichon, Peter Dijkstra,  Jérémie Rhorer, Ivor Bolton, Ingo Metzmacher and Vasily Petrenko and ensembles like Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Orchestre National de Radio France, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Concerto Köln, RIAS Kammerchor, Collegium 1704, Le Concert Spirituel, La Cetra, Il Pomo d’Oro, Het Residentie Orkest, Concert de la Loge, MDR Sinfonieorchester and Hamburger Sinfoniker.

His discography includes C.P.E. Bach’s Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu with the Vlaams Radiokoor (Passacaille), Handel’s Semele with Leonardo García Alarcón (Ricercar), Bach’s Messe in h-moll with the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Peter Dijkstra (BR Klassik), Berlioz’ Messe Solennelle and Händel’s Messias (Alpha), Händel’s Serse (Chaconne),  Johann Ludwig’s Trauermusik, Handel’s Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, both with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Bach cantatas with the Freiburger Barockorchester and Carolyn Sampson, all for Harmonia Mundi.

The Vocalconsort Berlin was formed in 2003 by arts and cultural managers Volkert Uhde and Markus Schuck, and in the same year successfully debuted Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music under the direction of René Jacobs.

The Berlin-based ensemble specializes in music of the early and high baroque, but frequently presents romantic and contemporary works as well. The variability and flexibility of this group allows the ensemble to perform equally well as a solo quartet or a large chamber choir with multiple solo parts, thereby making the choir perfect for concert performances as well as staged productions such as opera.

The Vocalconsort’s homogeneous and dynamic sound has led the group to work together with well-known directors such as Marcus Creed, Pablo Heras-Casado, René Jacobs, Daniel Reuss, Olof Bomon and Ottavio Dantone and excellent ensembles such as the Kammerorchester Basel, the Akademie für alte Musik, Accademia Bizantina, the Sharoun Ensemble and Ensemble musikFabrik. On stage, Vocalconsort Berlin has cooperated with internationally successful directors and choreographers such as Sasha Waltz, Hans-Werner Kroesinger, Barrie Kosky and Luc Perceval.

The Vocalconsort Berlin has given guest performances at such events as the Berlin-based “zeitfenster–biennale alter musik” festival, the “Zermatt Festival” and the Berlin Staatsoper’s Cadenza baroque festival, as well as in the renowned concert halls of Antwerp and Gent, Ferrara, Amsterdam, Brussels, Tel Aviv, Barcelona, London, Paris, Vienna, the Salzburg Festival, the Handel Festival Halle, the Cité de la Musique Paris, the Rheingau Music Festival, and the Musikfest Bremen.

In 2005, the opera “Dido & Aeneas” by Henry Purcell premiered in Luxembourg starring Sasha Waltz as choreographer. The production has enjoyed international success with over 50 performances on three continents. Since 2006 the Vocalconsort Berlin has served as the house ensemble to Sasha
Waltz & Guests, the Ensemble Kaleidoskop and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin at the RADIALSYSTEM V venue. In 2007, the opera “Medea” by Pascal Dusapin premiered in Luxembourg starring Sasha Waltz as choreographer, with performances taking the Vocalconsort to the Netherlands and France, and even to Australia. In 2008, the Vocalconsort Berlin received the “German Record Critic’s Award” for its debut double CD “Hugo Distler – Geistliche Chormusik op. 12, Weihnachtsgeschichte op. 10” (“Hugo Distler – Sacred Choral Music opus 12, Christmas Story opus 10”). In 2009, the Vocalconsort Berlin participated in “DIALOGE 09”, a project designed by Sasha Waltz to mark the reopening of the Neues Museum Berlin. The CD “ODE for the birthday of QUEEN ANNE” with the famous “Dixit Dominus” HWV 232, which was recorded together with Andreas Scholl and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
under Marcus Creed, was released by “harmonia mundi france”. In 2011, “harmonia mundi france” also released a highly acclaimed recording of Bach’s
motets, which was also conducted by Marcus Creed. In May 2011, the Vocalconsort participated in the world premiere of “Matsukaze”, an opera by Toshio Hosakawa. A Sasha Waltz production conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, further performances have since taken place in Warsaw, Luxembourg, and at the Staatsoper im Schillertheater in Berlin. Also in May 2011, the Vocalconsort participated in the successful scenic adaptation of “Die Jahreszeiten” by Haydn at the O.T. Theater in Rotterdam, which was directed by Miriam Koen and Gerrit Timmers.

Ralf Sochaczewsky received conducting lessons under Christian Grube and Marc Piollet at the Berlin University of the Arts. Later he studied choir conducting under Jörg-Peter Weigle and orchestral conducting under Prof. Reuter at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”.

He directs the Berlin choir Cantus Domus, with which he won a 1st prize at the Berlin Choir Competition in 2017 and a 3rd prize at the 8th Choir Competition of the Deutscher Musikrat in Dortmund . From 1998 to 2012, he conducted the Ensemberlino Vocale choir and successfully participated in choir competitions (1st prize at Chorfest Bremen (Bremen Choir Festival) 2008).

He regularly works with choirs like the Berlin Vocalconsort, the Cappella Amsterdam, the RIAS Kammerchor, and the Berliner Rundfunkchor.

In 2016, he conducted the European premiere of the oratorio “Anthracite Fields” by Julia Wolfe, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015, with the DR Vocalensemble and Bang on a Can-All Stars.

Ralf Sochaczewsky has performed with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the National Radio Orchestra Bucharest, and the Chamber Orchestra of the Minsk Philharmonic. He conducted operas at the Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opera National du Rhin, and the Lithuanian National Opera.

Ralf Sochaczewsky collaborated with various pop groups and artists such as Stargaze and André de Ridder, Bon Iver, Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, and Tocotronic. With Cantus Domus, he is a regular guest at festivals such as HaldernPop and KalternPop.

He teaches choral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”. For his great service to the Berlin choir scene, the Chorverband Berlin awarded him the Geschwister Mendelssohn Medal in 2017.