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, mostly, since 2005, for Harmonia Mundi and Aparte. Depending on repertory, 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-time 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 on Aparte of violin sonatas by Bach. ~ James Manheim