Albrecht Mayer

There is one name which is irrevocably linked with the oboe: Albrecht Mayer, who evokes praise from audiences and critics alike, including comments such as “divine sparks” and the “wondrous oboe” and that Mayer has “elevated the oboe to “an instrument of seduction”.

Mayer studied with Gerhard Scheuer, Georg Meerwein, Ingo Goritzki and Maurice Bourgue, beginning his professional career in 1990 as principal oboe of the Bamberger Symphoniker before transferring to the same position with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1992. Albrecht Mayer is in great demand internationally as a soloist and recently established his own ensemble New Seasons on the quest for his personal ideal sound concept. Alongside his solo career, Albrecht Mayer makes regular appearances as a conductor.

On his search for new repertoire, Albrecht Mayer has taken a great interest in adapting works for other instruments or vocals for his own (oboe) voice. His successful adaptations include transcriptions of Bach’s works entitled “Lieder ohne Worte” and his album “New Seasons” featuring Handel transcriptions which have even made it into the German pop charts. His CD “Auf Mozarts Spuren” [On the Tracks of Mozart] with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra und Claudio Abbado was on the German classical music charts for several months and included on the ‘quarterly critic’s choice’ by the German Record Critics’ Award association. In August 2008, Decca issued the album “In Venice” followed by an additional CD featuring works by J. S. Bach. The album “Bonjour Paris” was released in autumn 2010 and “Schilflieder” in January 2012, both under the Decca label. In 2013, Deutsche Grammophon issued the album “Let it Snow” recorded by Mayer with The King’s Singers. This was followed by further Deutsche Grammophon albums including “Lost and Found”, “Bach – Concertos and Transcriptions” and “Tesori d’Italia” which also entered the charts. 2019 saw the release of the album “Longing for Paradise“ featuring a recording of Strauss’s Oboe Concerto. A Mozart album followed in April 2021 and Mayer’s most recent recording entitled “Bach Generations” was released in the summer of 2023.