Gottfried Von Der Goltz

Violinist and conductor Gottfried von der Goltz has gained recognition as the leader of the Freiburger Barockorchester (or "Freiburg Baroque Orchestra"), an innovative historical-performance ensemble. He also performs widely as a violin soloist. Von der Goltz was born in the Bavarian city of Würzburg on June 1, 1964. He studied with his father, Georg Conrad von der Goltz, and his mother, Kirsti Hjort. Von der Goltz studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover under Rami Shevelov, moved to New York for graduate studies at the Juilliard School, and continued taking lessons with Rainer Kussmaul in Freiburg. At age 21, von der Goltz earned a violin chair in the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, looking forward to a secure career with a solid German orchestra. Two years later, he relinquished that post in favor of the Baroque violin, in the mid-'80s, not a terribly common instrument in Germany. That led to von der Goltz's leadership of the Freiburger Barockorchester, where he continues, with Kristian Bezuidenhout, to hold the post of artistic director. With the Freiburg group, he has amassed a large catalog of recordings, beginning in 1994 with an album of works by Purcell and Handel. He has recorded for various labels since 2005, mostly for Harmonia Mundi and Aparte. Depending on repertoire, he may lead the orchestra with his violin or take up the conductor's baton. He continues to play works for modern violin on occasion; his historical-instrument performances extend into the early Romantic era. From 1997 to 2004, von der Goltz taught violin at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, moving to the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in 2004. He assumed the directorship of the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra in Oslo in 2007. Von der Goltz has recorded music by Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi, but has also explored lesser-known Baroque violin works from Dresden and other cities in central Germany. On the 2018 release Handel: Concerti a Due Cori, von der Goltz teamed with violinist Petra Müllejans to conduct the two halves of the Freiburger Barockorchester in antiphonally structured Handel concerti grossi. After a pandemic hiatus, von der Goltz and the Freiburger Barockorchester returned with a recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, on Harmonia Mundi in 2021, and with the album Concerti all'Arrabbiata, featuring von der Goltz directing the orchestra from the violin, on Aparte. In 2022, von der Goltz joined cellist Annekatrin Beller and harpsichordist Torsten Johann for a recording of violin sonatas by Bach. He resumed his collaboration with Freiburger Barockorchester on a 2023 recording of Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 3–5, then again on 2025's Grand Tour, a live recording of French Baroque suites. ~ James Manheim, Rovi