Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Source: Styriarte |

Nikolaus Harnoncourt is at home in the most famous opera houses worldwide. Although his first love is Early Music, he always returns with pleasure to the city where he grew up and which dedicated an entire festival to him. The „styriarte“ festival takes place annually – and Harnoncourt never passes up the opportunity to perform there himself.


1929  Nikolaus Harnoncourt is born in Berlin as Johann Nicolaus Graf de la Fontaine und
d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt.

1952-1969  The musician, who grew up in Graz in the mansion of his great-great-grandfather, Archduke Johann, plays the cello in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Only a year after taking up this post, he founds the ensemble „Concentus Musicus“ as a sideline to pursue his own interest in authentic early music performance using original instruments. 

Since 1970  Harnoncourt appears as a conductor in the world’s greatest opera houses, including Milan, Hamburg and Vienna.

Since 1985  The musician from Graz gives at least one performance every year in his home town at the „styriarte“ festival.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt |

Johann Nicolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt was born in Berlin on 6 December 1929. The son of a family of musicians, he spent his childhood in the Palais Meran in Graz, the house of his great-great-grandfather Archduke Johann. A world-famous conductor today, he originally studied cello with Paul Grümmer at the Conservatory in Graz and with Emanuel Brabec at the Vienna Academy of Music. After graduating with distinction, he was hired by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in 1952 and played with this orchestra for 17 years.

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However, being a cellist in this orchestra was not enough for Harnoncourt. As early as 1953, he and his wife Alice founded the ensemble „Concentus Musicus Wien“ together with other colleagues from the orchestra. The artists specialised in music dating from the period between the end of the Middle Ages and the baroque period. In order to play this music with as much authenticity as possible, they used original instruments from the time. In 1962, their recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos earned them their first international success. In the years that followed, Harnoncourt stuck to the policy of playing Early Music on original instruments. However, he also began to devote increasing attention to more recent works as well as to contemporary music.
In the early 1970s, Harnoncourt conducted at many opera houses in Europe, such as Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, Hamburg and, of course, Vienna. In 1972, he became a professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. His concert tours subsequently took him to the most famous opera houses all over the world.

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Despite the conductor’s extensive travels and obligations, there is one festival that has been a permanent fixture on his musical agenda for over 15 years: the „styriarte“. Together with other artists, he and the Concentus Musicus Wien play at this festival every year.
At the heart of the annual festival in Graz lies the early music which Harnoncourt values so highly. This festival of classical music is intended not only to honour Nikolaus Harnoncourt, but also to strengthen his ties with his home town.