Press

Florian Helgath and the excellent Zürcher Sing-Akademie, a young professional ensemble, celebrate this valuable repertoire of loud pearls of two, three, at most four minutes in length with stupendous noblesse, first-class ensemble culture, audible enthusiasm and great joy in presenting the almost forgotten.

Rondo, Michael Wersin, 14.12.2024

Sophisticated Grandeur

A superb interpretation of Sergei Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil with Chorwerk Ruhr conducted by Florian Helgath: cultivated grandeur and vocal difference at the best of this fabulous composition. The ensemble is an eminent figure in the German choral landscape.
[...] Here, in addition to powerful ploughing, Rachmaninov's complex movement is delicately shaded, scrutinized for subtle nuances.
[...] The intonation is magnificent, clear, free and absolutely unclouded in every dynamic sphere.

Klassik.com, Dr. Matthias Lange, 11.09.2024

Artistically outstanding: Messiaen Rechants at Ruhrtriennale

Climbing this summit of vocal art requires singers who are devilishly sure-footed and, to a certain extent, free from giddiness. The Chorwerk Ruhr has them: under the competent direction of Florian Helgath [...] they seem to effortlessly negotiate all the cliffs of harmony [...] and counterpoint.

Revierpassagen.de, Anke Demirsoy, 06.09.2024

This new release of Florian Helgath and the Bavarian Radio Choir offers a compelling account in collbaration with the ensemble Capella de la Torre.

[...] I cannot but be gripped by Helgath's visceral reading, and especially by his choir, who sing with a precision and sympathy that belies their size."

Gramophone, 8/2024, Edward Breen

You can't sing Bruckner's music any better.

Helgath knew how to shape all the motets individually. With calm, precise conducting, he sometimes emphasised the Renaissance-like simplicity, then again the dynamic spectrum, or he simply revelled in the late Romantic harmonies. This was choral art at its finest."

Ruhr Nachrichten, Klaus Stübler, 24.03.2024

This choir, as can be seen here once again, has long been one of the world's best under the direction of Florian Helgath.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Christian Wildhagen, 07.03.24

Florian Helgath, artistic director of Chorwerk Ruhr since 2011, also conducted the symphony orchestra on this evening. Together with the four brilliant soloists [...] he created a masterpiece.

WAZ, Stefanie Stüber, 02.11.2023

It sounded tremendous: at the "Amen", the choir, soloists and orchestra were able to put aside all constraints and followed the composer's instructions, the fortissimo shook the foundations of the house.
[...] The conductor Florian Helgath kept the huge apparatus under control.

Coesfelder Allgemeine Zeitung, Ulrich Wesseler, 07.11.2023

The delicacy in terms of homogeneity, intonation security and sound sensitivity, which Chorwerk Ruhr is presenting intriguingly on every occasion, carries the choir through the length of this evening with Rachmaninov's Vespers. [...] Much applause for another master stroke by Chorwerk Ruhr and a musical highlight of the Ruhrtriennale.

Westfälische Rundschau, Pedro Obiera, 20.08.2023

Ruhrtriennale concert: Chorwerk Ruhr confirms its international class with Rachmaninov's Vespers at Dortmund's Zeche Zollern.

WAZ, Pedro Obiera, 20.08.2023

This choir works at the push of a button! Schönberg's exuberant choral movement "Peace on Earth" succeeds absolutely brilliant.

[...] Even top choirs cannot always convince here. Under Florian Helgath's clear conducting, however, the peculiarities of the structure and harmony are immediately apparent; rarely does one hear the piece so catchy, so naturally flowing - and so intonationally perfect.

Nürnberger Nachrichten, Stephan Schwarz-Peters, 28.06.2023

Chorwerk Ruhr under Florian Helgath impressed with a crystal-clear choral sound, high vocal artistry and a fabulous versatility and presence in dynamics, tone and vocal coloration. These virtues in the choir and instrumental soloists gave the performance a deeply moving intensity.

Die Rheinpfalz, Karl Gerog Berg, 11.05.2023

Under the direction of Florian Helgath, former head of the Munich Via Nova Choir and the Chorwerk Ruhr, the BR Choir offered a performance of “Musikalische Exequien” and the motets “Nun danket alle Gott” and “Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes” that was exemplary in terms of articulation, phrasing and intonation.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Klaus Kalchschmid, 27.11.2022

What is admirable about this performance is above all suppleness. Chorwerk Ruhr switched as a matter of course between Bach's meditative serenity and Kagel's provocative music theatre. In Amsterdam, they convince with both in a confined space - a feat of a special kind.
With a Brahms encore (Geistliches Lied op. 30), Chorwerk Ruhr created a reference to Bach closing with round full sound after an eventful multilayered concert evening with much material to enjoy.

www.bachtrack.com, Michael Klier, 03.10.2022

In the excellent cast with the Zürcher Sing-Akademie under Florian Helgath together with the top-class Freiburger Barockorchester, this has been a delightful performance. The soloist voices merged with the tutti of the agile, highly cultivated chorus.[…] Each of Helgath's gestures is a meaningful expression of his creative power through emotional devotion and suggestive presence.

 Schaffhauser Nachrichten, Gisela Zweifel-Fehlmann, 13.09.2022

"Haunting effect of a dense, dramatically pointed performance"

Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Christian Wildhagen, 12.09.2022

Florian Helgath has formed Chorwerk Ruhr into an absolute top ensemble. […] He led the Bochum Symphony Orchestra just as competently as his choir, which was in top form as usual. The finest dynamic gradations, intonation stability and perfect phrasing had already been demonstrated by Chorwerk Ruhr in two A cappella settings by Igor Stravinsky, which are delicate in detail. The biggest surprise of the evening were three motets for choir and orchestra by Lili Boulanger. […] Great applause of the extra class.

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Pedro Obiera, 29.08.2022

[…] The album »Bodenschatze«, sung by the excellent Chorwerk Ruhr conducted by Florian Helgath, embarks on unheard-of discoveries from this collection in the truest sense of the word. What reverberates here is representative, sacred music of the finest [...] The subtle instrumental accompaniment on historical instruments by the wind ensemble »Capella de la Torre« also enriches the album and underlines the solemnity of the music. Sometimes the instruments are coupled with the appropriate voices, sometimes smaller preludes and interludes are switched on. And so this wonderful album, performed at the highest level, proves to be a treasure trove of vocal music treasures from around 1600.

Chorzeit, Arne Sonntag, January 2022

The Chorwerk Ruhr under the direction of Florian Helgath has developped into one of the leading German chamber choirs over the past 20 years and stands for an extremely broad repertoire from early music to world premieres. The choir's latest project is devoted to a "bestseller" of the 17th century - the Florilegium Portense motet collection, with the Capella de la Torre as an instrumental partner. With the highest vocal sound quality, a broad, colorful spectrum of expression and above all with varied and intelligent arrangements, the two ensembles succeed in getting these pieces, which were very popular 400 years ago, back on track for today's ears.

rbbKultur, Bernhard Schrammek, 11.11.2021

Festive double choirs from Giovanni Gabrieli, rhetorical vitality from Orlando di Lasso, elegiac tones from Jacobus Gallus and approaches to solo monody: Florian Helgath designed a clever, exciting selection that also takes completely unknown composers into account [...].
If the selection of works is impressive, the singing culture of the Chorwerk Ruhr cannot be praised highly enough. With the choir, perfectly prepared in terms of phrasing, articulation and intelligibility of the text, Florian Helgath unfolds a maximum of sound beauty and filigree stylistic precision work. Quality with which the choir holds an international top position. [...]

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Pedro Obiera, 05.11.2021

With three top-class vocal soloists, mixed choir and children's choir, full orchestra and one of the most sought-after choir conductors of the time, the stage was set for a feast in the packed concert hall. [...]
What a blessing to have Florian Helgath here! He has this music in his DNA. [...] All in all, an uplifting and heartwarming concert experience!

Stavanger Aftenbladet, 22.10.2021

The performance of Mendelssohn's Elias reveals Florian Helgath not only as an excellent choir director, but also as a sovereign conductor of complex productions: accurate tempos, fine dynamic gradations, a beautiful tone formation and lively phrasing, a perfectly controlled balance between orchestra and choir, a defatted overall sound without historicizing exaggerations, a confident sense for the dramatic, spiritual essence of the work and a brilliant preparation of the choir and the orchestra. […] A coherent interpretation of the work which has granted the Ruhrtriennale a great moment.

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Pedro Obiera, 11.09.2021

Michael Praetorius, whose 400th anniversary of death is being celebrated this year, is one of the great shortfalls in music history. "You need real early baroque specialists for him," says Helgath to explain this deficit. [...] "His recognition prevented the need of very old instruments such as shawms, dulcian, pommer and cornetts for him - and not just a simple baroque oboe." But then this music unfolds an unexpected and incomparable suggestive and suction power. You step into another world.
"The difference between Praetorius and the Italians that he admired and that we have gathered on this album is his much greater relation to words."[...] Praetorius' point, however, is precisely "to leave this ridge of word primacy ’ (measured against contemporaries such as Schein, Schütz and Scheidt). Praetorius, that's the joke about him, is getting more Italian. […] With the new CD, the RIAS Chamber Choir sets a monument of absolute superiority.

Rondo Magazin, Robert Fraunholzer, 1/2021

The delicate, finest weaves of sound in the piano were sensational, making Gloria and Sanctus of the Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir shine mildly.

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Klaus Albrecht, 13.01.2020

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart "Requiem" (supplemented by Michael Ostrzyga, 2019)
Chorwerk Ruhr / concerto Cologne under the direction of Florian Helgath (grade 1)
corviello classics 2020


The event of the new recording is anyway the interpretation by Chorwerk Ruhr and Concerto Köln under the direction of Florian Helgath, who sets new records with his equally inspired, slim, energetic and expressive design. The choir is brilliant, always sounding transparent, dynamic, wide, but without extravagance, and making the melodic progress crystal clear.

Florian Helgath sets strong accents, but always keeps his measure, does not derail in exaggerations like celebrated stars à la Currentzis & Co. Together with the no less excellent Concerto Köln and a balanced soloist quartet, the recording deserves a top place in every discotheque.

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Pedro Obiera, June 26, 2020

[...] Working with a small group of singers, Florian Helgath finds the forward momentum that keeps Brahms' phrases alive even when the tempo is leisurely. Particularly attractive is the lilt he finds in the fourth movement, and the drama in the depiction of the Last Judgment in movement 6. [...] Of all the accounts of the piano (4 hands) versions I've heard, this is now top of my list.

www.choirandorgan.com, Philip Reed, November 2019

At the Ruhrtriennale, Berio's "Coro" was heard with the great Chorwerk Ruhr which had joined forces with the Duisburg Philharmonic under the direction of Florian Helgath. [...] Helgath had positioned five groups of singers and instrumentalists in the hall: two at the back, with an almost bodiless sound, one in the gallery, one on the left, one in the middle. This resulted in a finely balanced sound mixture, which could increase into a luxurious mix. The sound was to be experienced as a fine cocoon: finely graduated, with room for carefully balanced individual voices. [...] A special experience was the "Agnus dei", in which the singers were split into 60 voices, as if the room were full of fine sound lines, performed with passion. [...] Chorwerk Ruhr, Florian Helgath and the Duisburg Philharmonic have once again ensured a highlight in the Ruhrtriennale programme.

Westfälischer Anzeiger, Edda Breski, 03.09.2019

Mozart Requiem/Michael Ostrzyga at Rheingau Musik Festival

High-precision cues, precise intonation, the rigorous renouncement of romanticizing blending of tones, monolithic clarity and a structuring phrasing are hallmarks of this magnificent formation.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Christian Rupp, 19.08.2019

Florian Helgath and Chorwerk Ruhr: J.S.Bach & Mauricio Kagel

When Chorwerk Ruhr and Florian Helgath perform at the Ruhrtriennale, musical enjoyment at the highest level is guaranteed and when the ensemble recites the original chorales of J.S. Bach in perfect, vocal balance with perfect articulation and phrasing in almost dancelike floating elegance, the rugged contrasts and fractures of Kagel's comments enter all the more blatant in the ear (...). Equipped with whispering bags, the choir hisses, sibilates and calls out parts of the chorale segments as virtuously as it presents Bach in impeccable beauty (...). The audience was thrilled at Zeche Zollverein in Essen.

Allgemeiner Anzeiger, Pedro Obiera, 22.09.2018

The avant-garde varieties of Mauricio Kagel's Chorbuch are brilliantly expressed by Florian Helgath and Chorwerk Ruhr, with their superior expressiveness and powerful presence (...). "Singet dem Herrn " by J.S. Bach presents the choir highly virtuoso and with striking lightness.

Online Musik Magazin, Stefan Schmöe, 22.09.2018

Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle with Chorwerk Ruhr

The 33 professional singers of the Chorwerk Ruhr bring a breathtaking experience of the highest choral culture: moving expression, perfect homogeneity of the voices and articulation, rich dynamics from multiple piano to fortissimo. The virtuoso fugues as in the "Cum Sancto Spiritu" they sing "con spirito", swinging-fast and yet soulful, never sticky, phenomenal the Durchhörbarkeit (...). Florian Helgath is a master of the art of choral conducting. With relaxed concentration he calls the results of the rehearsal work, inspires, inspires his fellow musicians, conveys the message to the head and heart of the listener. Applause in earthquake strength.

onetz (online), Peter K. Donhauser, 04.02.2018

Consolidated in all epochs up to the new music Chorwerk Ruhr confirmed under the direction of Florian Helgath also with Rossini its reputation as top choir nationwide. The 30-member ensemble captivates in all its expressive facets with its absolutely purified sound: the piano floats in the "Christe eleison", softly lit the "Sanctus", wiry and tightly standing in the room, the "Gloria". It is not just the joyfully prancing Fugato that shows how closed this ensemble is formed of potential soloists and how it translates every nuance of the conductor. [...]

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Klaus Albrecht, 12.02.2018