The harpsichordist, organist, pianist and conductor Martin Gester was introduced to music through singing. With Le Parlement de Musique (an ensemble he founded in Strasbourg), his atelier lyrique Génération Baroque and as a guest conductor, he interprets the baroque and classical repertoire, emphasizing the links between music, dance and theatre, and likewise between vocal and instrumental music. This is shown in particular by programmes devoted to François Couperin, Charpentier, Alessandro Scarlatti, Handel, Cimarosa and Paisiello, often revivals or exciting new interpretations.
As a guest conductor, Martin Gester performs a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to classical symphonies. In baroque concertos he enjoys close collaborations with the Polish baroque orchestra Arte dei Suonatori and more recently with its Australian equivalent, Van Diemen’s Band.
Martin Gester is equally fond of the intimate nature of keyboard performance, often surrounded by a select group of musicians in French baroque organ works, early baroque madrigals, motets and instrumental suites by François Couperin or chamber music by Haydn and Mozart.
He shares his experience at the Strasbourg Conservatory, the opera studio of the Opéra National du Rhin and at numerous masterclasses all over the world.
His BIS recordings with Arte dei Suonatori include Handel’s twelve Concerti grossi, Op. 6 (BIS-1705), Telemann’s Ouvertures Pittoresques and Concerts Polonois (BIS-1979); and Venetian Christmas with music by Vivaldi, Torelli and Hasse (BIS-2089).
www.martingester.com
