Katrin Lazar, born in London of American and German parentage is a specialist in historical performance practice with her instruments recorder and historical bassoons.
Katrin Lazar studied at the University of Music in Frankfurt and at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, where she completed her studies in historical interpretation holding a DAAD scholarship.
Since being elected principal bassoon with the European Union Baroque Orchestra in 2004 -an irreplaceable experience! – her concert tours as a highly demanded orchestral/ chamber musician and soloist with various ensembles have taken her to many parts of the world. Numerous recordings document her musical versatility.
She currently lives in Munich where she teaches historical bassoon at the Munich University of Music and Theatre.
What inspired you to pursue a career in music, particularly in Baroque and Classical genres?
I started playing the recorder when I was about 5, playing mostly baroque repertoire. I have always felt that baroque music with all its ornamentation and the phrasing is my musical mother tongue.
What is the most challenging piece you’ve performed with The English Concert?
The Barber of Seville by Rossini. Speaking about baroque music as my mother tongue I felt I had to work much harder to make this later repertoire work on my classical bassoon – It was technically very challenging and it was also very challenging to get the style right but very rewarding as well!
How do you see the role of period instrument orchestras in today’s music world?
Period instrument orchestras have had a huge impact on how classical music is performed nowadays even on the big symphony orchestras. If you compare the sound of a performance for example of the 1980s with a modern day performance say of W.A.Mozart, you will notice a much more transparent, crisp orchestral sound with less vibrato, possibly very different tempos. The tendency in the second half of the 20th century of „pouring“ a thick layer of vibrato over any kind of music has been very much rebutted by early music pioneers and their studies of historical sources about performance practice. Also our historical instruments instruct us in many aspects on how to perform music that is 200-300 years old.