Gottfried von der Goltz

Recognized widely for directing the innovative historical-performance ensemble Freiburger Barockorchester, violinist and conductor Gottfried von der Goltz also maintains an active schedule as a violin soloist. The Bavarian city of Würzburg was the site of his birth on June 1, 1964. Instruction came first from his father, Georg Conrad von der Goltz, and his mother, Kirsti Hjort. He later attended the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover, where Rami Shevelov guided his studies, relocated to New York for graduate work at the Juilliard School, and received further lessons from Rainer Kussmaul in Freiburg. At the age of 21 he secured a violin position with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg and appeared headed toward a stable career in a major German ensemble. Two years afterward, in the mid-'80s, he left that post to concentrate on the Baroque violin, then uncommon in Germany, a choice that soon placed him at the head of the Freiburger Barockorchester. He and Kristian Bezuidenhout continue to share the role of artistic director. Beginning with a 1994 album of Purcell and Handel, the Freiburg ensemble has produced an extensive recorded catalog under his leadership. Since 2005 the majority of these releases have appeared on Harmonia Mundi and Aparte. Depending on the repertory, he directs either from the violin or with the baton. Occasional performances on modern violin remain part of his activity, while his historical-instrument work reaches into the early Romantic period.

From 1997 to 2004 he taught violin at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg before joining the faculty of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in 2004. In 2007 he became director of the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra in Oslo. Although his recordings encompass music by Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi, he has also investigated lesser-known Baroque violin repertory from Dresden and other central German centers. On the 2018 release Handel: Concerti a Due Cori, von der Goltz joined violinist Petra Müllejans in leading the two sections of the Freiburger Barockorchester through antiphonally conceived Handel concerti grossi. Following a pandemic-related pause, he and the orchestra returned in 2021 with a Harmonia Mundi recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, and with the Aparte album Concerti all'Arrabbiata, on which he directed from the violin. In 2022, again for Aparte, he recorded Bach violin sonatas together with cellist Annekatrin Beller and harpsichordist Torsten Johann.