Biography

Ludwig Güttler has been called "the Pavarotti of wind instruments" and the "King of Trumpets," but he is almost as well known for his research, teaching, and dedication to the culture of Saxony as for his playing of the trumpet and horn. He has made over 100 recordings, reflecting a career that began in the 1960s. Güttler first took music lessons at the age of five; after learning the accordion, piano, cello, and flute, he began playing the trumpet when he was 14. At the Hochschule für Musik in Leipzig, he studied with Armin Männel between 1961 and 1965. He then became solo trumpeter for Halle's Handel Festival Orchestra and then the Dresden Philharmonic, where he remained until 1980. In the same period, he founded three ensembles to further expand the performance of 17th and 18th century wind literature on period instruments: the New Leipziger Bach-Collegium (1976), the Ludwig Güttler Wind Ensemble (1978), and the Virtuosi Saxoniae (1985). After leaving his orchestral positions, he began recording, first on the Capriccio label and then for Berlin Classics. In 1983, he won an award from the Deutschen Phonoakademie as "Discovery of the Year." He has performed and recorded both as soloist and conductor with all his groups in both instrumental and choral works. He also regularly performed and recorded with his duo partner, organist Friedrich Kircheis. Throughout his career, he has looked for works that feature the trumpet, piccolo trumpet, corno da caccia, or other wind instruments that have been left undiscovered in libraries, archives, and castles all over Germany and elsewhere, further enhancing the available repertoire beyond Vivaldi, Bach, Telemann, and Haydn. Güttler was a professor at the Dresden Hochschule für Musik from 1972 to 1990, taught annually at the Weimar International Music Seminar, and frequently gave master classes and served on competition juries. Güttler also founded the annual Musikwoche Hitzacker festival in 1986, a multifaceted presentation of concerts, recitals, workshops, and exhibits, and has conducted local opera productions. Numerous awards have been bestowed on him for his musical work and for his civic activities. He has a degree in architecture and was a key figure in the restoration of Dresden's Frauenkirche (1994-2004), for which Queen Elizabeth made him an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. This seemingly indefatigable artist has a catalog of music ranging from Albinoni to Zelenka. As he approached the age of 80 and his schedule was forcibly slowed down by COVID-19 lockdowns, Güttler decided to stop most of his public performing, but he still looked forward to unexamined manuscripts and trying new things with his instruments. The two-disc set In allen meinen Taten contains excerpts from some of his favorite recordings plus 2022 recordings of a few of his favorite chorales, a type of work he has returned to again and again over his long career. ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi