Press reviews of concerts performed by the Liedertafel Dachau 
from today until 1989

21st /22nd  March 2009, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace: 
Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion

21st October 2007, Banqueting Hall of Dachau Palace, Petite Messe solennelle

On the occasion of the anniversary concert which celebrated the constancy of
Choirmaster Peter Frank - he has been conducting the Liedertafel for the last 
20 years - the choir gave an excellent performance. (...) It is true that the choir 
does not have to sing a lot, but it has to meet high standards. It's mostly about 
colours whose splendour will glisten only with pureness of intonation. 
Peter Frank prepared his relatively big choir so well that the colours were 
glistening in all their splendour and the effortlessness required by Rossini's 
music shone even in the difficult choral fugues. (...) Peter Frank conducted the 
concert with calm and set accents where necessary... and gave rein to the musicians.

The thundering applause of the audience rewarded not only the choir and the 
soloists but also Peter Frank, the choirmaster, who has led the Liedertafel's choir 
to the very high level of a concert and oratorio choir during the last years. Due to 
the brilliancy and aplomb and especially the confident soloists, Rossini's 
“occasional work” sparkled with expressiveness. (...) The choir succeeded easily in 
going back and forth between pressing impetus, serene animus and soft tone painting,

“The endearing voice tamer” (Peter Frank's 20th anniversary as a choirmaster)

Those who have been following closely the Liedertafel's development over the years 
know that under the strict and demanding choirmastership the singing club has 
evolved into a choir which is able to match professionals easily.

Correct choir singing for 20 years

Dachau - On Sunday, the Liedertafel will celebrate the anniversary of its choirmaster 
Peter Frank, who has been conducting the choir for 20 years, with a concert at 
Dachau Palace. At 5 p.m., the choir and soloists will perform Gioacchino Rossini's 
“Petite Messe Solennelle” in the original version with two grand pianos and a 
harmonium. After many gigantic performances which Peter Frank launched during the 
last 20 years, he is looking forward to the intimate character of the music and the 
delightful sounds of the harmonium. (sch)

20th / 21st May 2006 Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Opening chorus of “Thamos, King of Egypt” /
Symphony nº 29 in A major / Davide penitente

The Liedertafel's Mozart Concert set high standards with its excellent programme 
as well as its high quality performance.... The greatest challenge was the cantata 
“Davide penitente”. The choruses are truly monumental, the Liedertafel, which 
isn't a Liedertafel any more, succeeded easily in meeting the high standards.

Long, enthusiastic ovations rewarded the choir, the soloists and the orchestra for 
a magnificent performance. Last weekend at Dachau Palace, the Liedertafel 
performed a Mozart concert during which the choir outgrew itself under 
Peter Frank's competent conductorship.

8th July 2005, Open-Air-Concert of Dachau's choirs in the garden of
Dachau Palace on the occasion of Dachau's 1200th anniversary:
Carl Orff, Carmina Burana

Spectacular and intoxicating... the performance satisfied the highest 
expectations...Singers of five choirs of Dachau formed an enormous body of 
sound which defined the performance's style over large parts.

An overwhelming highlight of Dachau's 1200th anniversary celebration was
a major local event, the performance of “Carmina Burana” in the Court Garden, 
mastered by a choir radiating with intensity, a clairaudient orchestra and 
top-class soloists... Under Peter Frank's conductorship, the worldly chants in 
medieval Latin, in Middle High German and Old French grew into an enormously 
expressive musical drama. With their first tone, the excellently rehearsed 
choruses gave rein to the mythical arch energy of the music and the force of the 
rhythmical impetus. The vocals were beautiful and emotional, and articulation 
clear and highly intelligible.

30th / 31st October 2004, Dachau Palace's Banqueting Hall:
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Elias ( gala concert on the occasion
of the 125th anniversary)

The Liedertafel Dachau has not only achieved its greatest performance in its 
125 years old history, it has also succeeded in presenting the best “Elias”-
performance of all comparable choirs.... The manner how the Liedertafel acted 
as the people, how highly dedicated, vocally perfect, was as overwhelming as 
the performance of its opponent Elias (Peter Lika).

Despair and fear, wrath and hate, meekness and piousness, mourning, bliss 
and joy, hope and trust were interpreted with infectious conviction in dazzling 
colours and intoxicating musicality. The texts of the Old Testament are clear and 
meaningful and were interpreted rigorously, strongly and competently....

29th June 2003: Participation in the Commemoration Concert of
Dachau's choirs at the Concentration Camp Memorial Site, Dachau:
Johannes Brahms, A German Requiem

Three of Dachau's choirs and some singers of other choirs put in great efforts 
to perform Brahms's Requiem. It has been a tour de force in dedication, 
choir work,cooperation and organisational preparation. It has been also a bold 
undertaking to send an emotional message from this historical place of guilt... 
It has been a humanitarian act for which all participants deserve our highest 
praise and respect as well as gratitude from Dachau's citizens.

21st / 22nd December 2002, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace:
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas I, II, III

...a truly great performance... Peter Frank has transformed Dachau's Liedertafel
into an efficient choir which masters many registers of choir sound. During the
opening sequence of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, “Jauchzet, frohlocket...”, it
presented itself in shining splendour, as brilliantly as this work has never been
heard before in Dachau. But not only this opening chorus, every single chorus,
from the modest or very expressively sung piece up to the convincingly
performed “Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe”,  was superb.

24th / 25th November 2001, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace;
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Requiem

Throughout the performance in Dachau, the choir was revealing that it has
completely embraced the peculiarities of this piece of music. Together with the
soloists and the excellent instrument players, all participants achieved to leave
an ineffaceable mark... The choir's performance never slackened...
Dachau's Liedertafel remained true to its tradition of presenting significant
pieces in a striking way.

30th July 2000, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace: Matinée as part of
the Dachau Bach Festival on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of
the death of Johann Sebastian Bach (Cantata “Herz und Mund und
Tat und Leben”, Mass in F major, “Lutheran Mass”).

In Dachau Palace's sold out Banqueting Hall, the most impressing thing was the
coaction of the components to achieve a delightful result. It was not the success
of the individual that priority was given to, but the smoothly balanced tuning in 
with each other which left no wish unfulfilled during an ambitious two hour
programme.

The Liedertafel Dachau revealed itself as an excellently trained and vocally
harmonized choir which, under Frank, is now able to sing even Bach flawlessly
in style.

15th / 16th May 1999, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace: Joseph Haydn,
“The Seasons” (Celebratory Concert on the occasion of the 120th anniversary)

The Liedertafel is 120 years old... and the boldness to forge new musical paths
has led to the fact that the choir shows no symptoms of old age. Quite on the
contrary: in two performances of Joseph Haydn's “The Seasons”, the
“celebratee” presented itself fresh and full of enthusiasm .

20th / 21st December 1997, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace:
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas I, IV, V, VI

With this piece, the Liedertafel ventured its most demanding task and mastered
it convincingly... Under Peter Frank's competent conductorship, the Christmas
Oratorio was doubtlessly the Liedertafel's most brilliant achievement ever.
Effortlessly, the choir mastered even the most difficult parts: secure, differentiated
and sonorous, always with clear pronunciation... Those who were present at the
concert were not only enthusiastic, but also proud of this professional 
concert staged by one of Dachau's choirs.

27th October 1996, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace:
Joseph Haydn, The Creation

Like conductor, like concert: solid, committed, targeted on the piece and its 
message and no showmanship... For the extremely positive impression left by the
performance it has been, however, more important how the voices of the soloists,
choir and orchestra harmonized, how clear and vivid each detail of Haydn's 
portrayal of nature was elaborated and how the choir's rejoicing intensified
it reached a sound effect in the final chorus “Singt dem Herrn alle
Stimmen” which one hardly would have thought a “Liedertafel” capable of.... 
The Liedertafel's concert at Dachau Palace was a feast for the ears.

A terrific experience... the choir succeeded in sweeping the audience away by its 
vocal quality, expressiveness and brilliant sound... After the magnificent final
chorus “Des Herren Ruhm, er bleibt in Ewigkeit” with all its splendour, it was only
natural that the audience broke into rapturous applause, because the Liedertafel
had performed a master piece masterfully.

18th October 1992, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace,
Robert Schumann, Zigeunerleben; Johannes Brahms, Zigeunerlieder

For the Liedertafel, these choir scenes were an excellent opportunity ...to show 
how the Liedertafel has increased in quality, how voice training has made the 
choir sound more resonant and homogeneous, and, most remarkably, how 
clearly the choir is articulating. Peter Frank has done a great job.

13th October 1991, Banqueting Hall at Dachau Palace:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Misericordias Domini, Ave verum corpus,
Regina coeli, Sancta Maria mater Dei, Antonio Salieri, Coronation Te Deum

... we do congratulate the Liedertafel Dachau on her excellent performance of 
this motet  [“Misericordias Domini” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart] and the other 
chorus works of her Mozart concert as well as on her choirmaster Peter Frank, 
who is obviously attaching great importance to voice training and has thus
transformed the Liedertafel Dachau into a formidable choir.

Was this really the anniversary soiree of a 110 year old Liedertafel? You got the 
impression that you were listening to a young, dynamical choir who might just 
be celebrating the recurrence of its foundation.