Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau & Markus L . Frank
Biography Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau & Markus L . Frank
Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau
One of the oldest and most historic ensembles in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Dessau-based orchestra celebrated its 250th anniversary in the 2016/17 season. In 1766, the violinist and composer Friedrich Wilhelm Rust began assembling a court orchestra. After the permanent establishment of a theater company in Dessau in 1794, the musicians became an indispensable pillar for music theater performances of all genres, from 1798 onward in the court theater built by Erdmannsdorff. Distinguished Kapellmeisters in the nineteenth century were Friedrich Schneider, Eduard Thiele, and August Klughardt, the latter two laying the foundation for the Dessau Wagner tradition.
In 1876, thirteen musicians from Dessau participated in the orchestra of the first Bayreuth Festival. In the first half of the twentieth century, chief conductors such as Franz Mikorey, Hans Knappertsbusch, Franz von Hoesslin, Artur Rother, and Helmut Seidelmann left their mark on the orchestra. The latter stood on the podium when the new theater building was opened in 1938 with Der Freischütz and reopened in 1949 with Die Zauberflöte, after its destruction during the war and reconstruction.
Under the conductor Heinz Röttger (General Music Director from 1954 to 1977), the Wagner Festwochen developed into a festival of outstanding artistic caliber. His successors continued the tradition of Wagner-Verdi-Strauss-Slavic composers while making their own contributions.
The orchestra, known as the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau since 1992, has given guest performances outside Dessau (including at Classic Open Air on the Berlin Gendarmenmarkt, concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin, a tour with the tenor José Cura, and a Japan tour with the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau performing Salome and Der fliegende Holländer) and made radio recordings and CD productions, testifying to its national and international reputation. Succeeding Golo Berg and Antony Hermus, Markus L. Frank took on the position of Chief Conductor of the Anhaltische Philharmonie in August 2016. In March 2023, the orchestra received the Best Concert Program of the 2022/23 Season award from the German Music Publishers‘ Association (DMV).
Markus L. Frank
began his musical career as a horn player. After highly successful participation in several international competitions (he was a prizewinner in Markneukirchen, Geneva, and at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich), he held a position as horn player with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Concurrently, the Swabian-born musician studied conducting at the Detmold University of Music and the Hamburg University of Music and Drama.
In 1998, he was engaged as Kapellmeister at the Theater Kiel, where he acquired a comprehensive repertoire including many of his own productions. In 2003, he moved to the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau as First Kapellmeister and deputy General Music Director. From 2008 to 2016, Markus L. Frank was General Music Director of the historically-significant Loh Orchestra Sondershausen and the Theater Nordhausen. Here his particular focus was on unknown and rarely performed works of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries together with the promotion of contemporary young composers.
In addition to this position, he made numerous guest appearances at the opera houses in Nuremberg, Wiesbaden, and Hanover as well as at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he gave his debut in 2005. From 2013 to 2016, he taught conducting at the University of Music “Franz Liszt” in Weimar. He has been leading the master class for soloists together with orchestra at the Weimar Master Classes since 2012. The rediscovery of Franco Alfano’s opera Cyrano de Bergerac, conducted by Markus L. Frank at the Kiel Theater and released on CD, was greeted by critics with great enthusiasm. In 2015, he released an album featuring major orchestral works by Walter Braunfels, also produced by Deutschlandradio Kultur. At the beginning of the 2016/17 season, Markus L. Frank was appointed General Music Director of the Anhaltisches Theater and Chief Conductor of the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau.
