Sunday, September 6, 2015

Otto Buchner

Otto Buchner was a German violinist and teacher born (in Nuremberg) on September 10, 1924.  He is well known (among aficionados) as a specialist in the solo violin sonatas by JS Bach.  Buchner founded a string chamber orchestra based in Munich in 1962.  He taught at the Munich Conservatory for many years too.  One source states (without citing the years, so it is debatable) he was also concertmaster of the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra (associated with Carlos Kleiber for many years) as well as concertmaster of the Munich Philharmonic.  His recording of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos, with the Munich Bach Soloists (founded in 1982), may well be the best of all time.  You can hear the first movement of number 4 here and judge for yourself.  Those of you who know these works or have played them know how difficult number 4 is for the solo violin.  The complete version of the concertos is here.  The first movement of the second Brandenburg Concerto in the set is included among the music works sent into space on the Golden Record which is attached to the spacecraft Voyager 1.  If an extraterrestrial finds it, they might like the music and enjoy Buchner's playing although they probably won't know it's him playing - unless that information is included in the Golden Record but I don't think it is. Buchner also recorded many Bach solo works which are easily found on the internet.  He played a Stradivarius violin dated 1727.  Buchner died on September 28, 2008, at age 84.  

17 comments:

  1. I came here having heard his playing with Julia Hamari Erbarme Dich - a wonderful performance.

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    1. Indeed. There's a reason the video has over 1,468,000 views. The violin solo is an integral part of Erbarme Dich. Vladimir Spivakov also plays it quite nicely (with a different singer.)

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  2. Amaizing Performance. Bèni pour Dieu.

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  3. He was great playing Bach with Karl Richter and Paul Meisen..

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  4. Indeed, Buchner was a superlative violinist. I only wish I could have found more information about him before writing this profile but I couldn't. Someone out there must know better sources than I used.

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  5. i really love Buchner, Richter and ofcourse...BACH, the master of the music universe and his interpreters !!
    All of them offered to humanity.
    I am greatful to them !!

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  6. i really love Buchner, Richter and ofcourse...BACH, the master of the music universe and his interpreters !!
    All of them offered to humanity.
    I am greatful to them !!

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  7. I really loved his brandenburg concerto recording. The first movement of brandenburg concerto no.5 is my favorite! Other recordings just aren't same.

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    1. Thank you for your comment. Buchner was a wonderful interpreter of Bach's music. I sometimes wonder how they came to select his recording of Bach to send into outer space. Very good choice!

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  8. thanks for your blog .i love bach and buchner is amazing.he makes me cry with joy of course


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    1. You are very welcome and thank you for your wonderful comment.

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  9. Hi, does anyone know more information on Büchner? He seems like an interesting fellow

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  10. He's dearly missed, and it's a shame so little is known about this deeply passionate and humble man.

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    1. I agree with you 100% Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

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    2. His performance of the solo violin part in the Haffner Serenade K250 is excellent. You can hear it on ISMLP.

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  11. are there any recordings of his after 1980? It seems like he dropped off the face of the earth after his partner, Karl Richter died in 1981?

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