Nicholas McGegan
Nicholas McGegan has done more for the early music movement in America than nearly anyone else, and his tireless explorations of the byways of Baroque opera have put many fascinating works into the concert hall and onto recordings. Although he is primarily identified with Handel, he has played repertoire stretching into the 19th century and has brought the same sense of fun to all of it. McGegan served as the music director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra for 34 seasons, taking on the role of music director laureate in 2020. McGegan, leading the SWR Symphonieorchester, backed Gil Shaham on a recording of music for violin and orchestra by Mozart in 2022.
McGegan was born on January 14, 1950, in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England. He studied piano at London's Trinity College of Music and learned to play the flute while he was there but entertained no special desire to study historical performance. When he entered Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, however, one of the courses required for a music degree was Professor Nicholas Shackleton's acoustics class. This course often met in the professor's home, which contained both a large collection of 18th century wind instruments and a tenant named Christopher Hogwood. Hogwood, of course, was then one of the leading lions of the period-instrument Baroque movement in England, so McGegan could not have been in a better position to learn about it. Although he had been studying 20th century music, one day he picked up a Baroque wooden flute and never looked back. During the 1970s, McGegan became one of the bright lights of England's starry period-instrument scene, playing the flute, harpsichord, and fortepiano with all the major period instrument groups in England, especially Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music. He became director of early music at the Royal College of Music in London in 1976.
In 1979, McGegan made the fateful decision to accept a three-month artist-in-residence position at Washington University in St. Louis. His teaching and performance caused quite a stir there, and numerous renewals of his initial term followed. In 1985, McGegan became music director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, which had been a players' cooperative without a leader. The ensemble still places a premium on collaboration and creativity under McGegan's direction. It has become the finest period-instrument group in America and one of the finest in the world since McGegan took it over, making numerous recordings under his direction.
One of the international positions this very busy conductor held was as artistic director of the Gottingen Handel Festival from 1991 until 2011, the oldest festival for Baroque music in the world. He has also spread the ideas of historically informed practice in his work with groups around the world, such as Hungary's Capella Savaria, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, among many others. He has also worked with opera companies, including Covent Garden and San Francisco. McGegan also founded the Arcadian Academy, a chamber offshoot of the Philharmonia Baroque, and has served as the Baroque series director for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and as an advisory board member for the University of Maryland Handel Festival and London's Handel House. In his pursuit of reviving Baroque works, he's collaborated with dancer Mark Morris to present Rameau's Platée at the Edinburgh Festival and Handel's L'Allegro at Ravinia and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.
Despite, or perhaps because of, his academic credentials and background in period performance, McGegan's performances exemplify joy and fun rather than sober scholarship. He has compared the Philharmonia Baroque to a "jazz band" in terms of its ability to play together and play with spirit, and the comparison rings true when listening to the group, or, indeed, any of McGegan's performances. In 2019, he was heard on the BIS album Josef Myslivecek: Complete Music for Keyboard, with pianist Clare Hammond. McGegan remained in his role with the Philharmonia Baroque until 2020 when he stepped into his new role as music director laureate. In 2022, McGegan conducted the SWR Symphonieorchester on a recording of Mozart's violin concertos with violinist Gil Shaham.
© Andrew Lindemann Malone & Keith Finke /TiVo
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Nicola Matteis: Ayres for the Violin: Suites and Sonatas, Vol. II
Nicholas McGegan, The Arcadian Academy
Clásica - Editado por harmonia mundi el 8 abr. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Ottone, re di Germania
Freiburger Barockorchester, Nicholas McGegan, Drew Minter
Ópera - Editado por harmonia mundi el 27 abr. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel : Joseph and His Brethren, HWV 59
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
Oratorios sacros - Editado por Philharmonia Baroque Productions el 5 abr. 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Platée And Dardanus Suites
Clásica - Editado por Conifer Classics el 4 mar. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Platée And Dardanus Suites
Clásica - Editado por Conifer Classics el 4 mar. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Música concertante - Editado por Sony Music Entertainment el 5 oct. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232 - Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem: XXVI. Agnus Dei
Cantata Collective, Nicholas McGegan, Rhianna Cockrell
Clásica - Editado por AVIE Records el 8 mar. 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Fireworks Music & Water Music
Clásica - Editado por Sony Music Entertainment el 1 ene. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Humfrey: Verse Anthems
Música vocal sacra - Editado por harmonia mundi el 8 dic. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Uccellini: "La bergamasca"
Nicholas McGegan, The Arcadian Academy
Clásica - Editado por harmonia mundi el 10 nov. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Radamisto
Freiburger Barockorchester, Nicholas McGegan, Ralf Popken, Juliana Gondek
Ópera - Editado por harmonia mundi el 28 abr. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Violin Concertos
Zsolt Kallo, Capella Savaria, Nicholas McGegan
Clásica - Editado por Hungaroton el 1 ene. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: Concerti grossi, Op. 6, Nos. 7-12
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan
Música concertante - Editado por harmonia mundi el 10 oct. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Terpsicore - Prologue To Il Pastor Fido / Alcina (Excerpts) / Ariodante (Excerpts)
Katalin Farkas, Derek Lee Ragin, Pal Nemeth, Chamber Choir, Capella Savaria, Nicholas McGegan
Ópera - Editado por Hungaroton el 15 jul. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook (highlights)
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Nicholas McGegan, David Bowles
Clásica - Editado por harmonia mundi el 10 nov. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: Concerti grossi, Opus 6, Nos. 1-6
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan
Música concertante - Editado por harmonia mundi el 10 jul. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A. Scarlatti : La gloria di primavera
Clásica - Editado por Philharmonia Baroque Productions el 8 abr. 2016
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 79, 80 & 81
Capella Savaria, Nicholas McGegan
Clásica - Editado por Hungaroton el 5 oct. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Arias for Montagnana
Thomas David, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan
Ópera - Editado por harmonia mundi el 8 abr. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, C.P.E.: 3 Quartets; Fantasy in C
Nicholas McGegan, Catherine Mackintosh, Anthony Pleeth, Christopher Hogwood
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1 ene. 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Agrippina
Nicholas McGegan, Capella Savaria, Sally Bradshaw
Ópera - Editado por harmonia mundi el 20 abr. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo