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Rachel Podger

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Rachel Podger is a British violinist and conductor who has specialised in Baroque music. She was born on 30 May 1968 to a British father and a German mother from Hamburg. The family moved to Germany, where she attended a Steiner school. She then studied in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. During her studies she co-founded the chamber groups The Palladian Ensemble and Florilegium.

Music and breakthrough

Podger often leads Baroque orchestras from the violin. From 1997 to 2002 she was leader of The English Concert, and she has worked as a guest conductor with, among others, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She records mainly for Channel Classics. Well-known recordings include Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin from 1999, Telemann's Twelve Fantasies for Solo Violin, Vivaldi's La Stravaganza from 2003 and the complete violin sonatas of Mozart. For La Stravaganza she received an award from Gramophone magazine. Her 2018 recording of Vivaldi's Le quattro stagioni reached number one in the British classical albums chart.

Influence

She plays a violin made in Genoa in 1739. Her playing is light and lively and makes use of the playing style of the period itself. She is also a professor of Baroque violin and in 2006 founded the Brecon Baroque Festival, as well as the Mozart Music Fund for young musicians. She has shown that early music can be played in a contemporary way.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to her recording of Vivaldi's Le quattro stagioni and notice how the violin depicts the weather and the seasons. Do you hear how the soloist and the orchestra toss the ball back and forth?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists