Chorwerk Ruhr with David Lang: before and after nature at Ruhrtriennale

The tremendous lightness and precision with which the singers of Chorwerk Ruhr, conducted by Florian Helgath, perform songs that often thrive on the onomatopoeic effect of the English lyrics, the naturalness with which they dynamically swell sound waves of reverberation, echo and multiple overlays, is simply overwhelming.

Westdeutsche Allgemein, Wolfgang Platzeck, 18.09.2025

Neues Album Rachmaninow: Kultivierte Größe

Eine superbe Deutung der Ganznächtlichen Vigil von Sergej Rachmaninow durch das von Florian Helgath geleitete Chorwerk Ruhr: Kultivierte Größe und vokale Differenz zum besten der fabelhaften Komposition. Das Ensemble ist eine eminente Größe in der deutschen Chorlandschaft. […] Hier wird neben kraftvollem Zupacken fein abschattiert, der komplexe Satz Rachmaninows nach subtilen Nuancen befragt. […] Die Intonation ist großartig, in jeder dynamischen Sphäre klar, frei und absolut ungetrübt.

Klassik.com, Dr. Matthias Lange, 11.09.2024

Künstlerisch überragend: Messiaen Rechants bei Ruhrtriennale

Um diesen Gipfel der Vokalkunst zu erklimmen braucht es verteufelt trittsichere, gewissermaßen schwindelfreie Sängerinnen und Sänger. Das Chorwerk Ruhr besitzt sie: Unter der kompetenten Leitung von Florian Helgath […] wandeln sie scheinbar mühelos über alle Klippen der Harmonik […] sowie der Kontrapunktik.

Revierpassagen.de, Anke Demirsoy, 06.09.2024

Bruckner with Chorwerk Ruhr and Bochum Symphony

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

Ruhrnachrichten, Klaus Stübler, 24.03.2024

Besser kann man Bruckners Musik nicht singen

Mit ruhigem, präzisem Dirigat betone er einmal die renaissancehafte Schlichtheit, dann wieder das dynamische Spektrum, oder er schwelgte einfach in den spätromantischen Harmonien. Das war Chorkunst vom Feinsten.

Ruhr Nachrichten, Klaus Stübler, 24.03.2024

Fortissimo shook the foundations

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. [...] Conductor Florian Helgath kept the huge apparatus under control.

Coesfelder Allgemeine Zeitung, Ulrich Wesseler, 07.11.2023

Fortissimo erschüttert die Grundfesten

Es klang gewaltig: Beim "Atmen" konnten Chor, Solisten und Orchester allen Zwang ablegen und den Anweisungen des Komponisten folgen, das Fortissimo erschütterte die Grundfesten des Hauses. [...] Florian Helgath hielt als Dirigent den riesigen Apparat im Griff.

Coesfelder Allgemeine Zeitung, Ulrich Wesseler, 07.11.2023

Dvorak: Stabat Mater
Standing ovations for choir concert in Bochum

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

Dvorak: Stabat Mater
Stehende Ovationen für Chorkonzert in Bochum

Florian Helgath, seit 2011 künstlerischer Leiter von Chorwerk Ruhr, war an diesem Abend auch als Dirigent der Symphoniker zu erleben. Zusammen mit den vier brillanten Solisten [...] gelang ihm ein Meisterwerk.

WAZ, Stefanie Stüber, 02.11.2023

Brilliant impression at the Nuremberg Music Festival ION

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 & Florian Helgath in Schwetzingen: Encounter between baroque and present

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

Chorwerk Ruhr &  Florian Helgath in Schwetzingen: Begegnung zwischen Barock und Gegenwart

Das Chorwerk Ruhr unter Florian Helgath begeisterte seinerseits durch einen glasklaren Chorklang, hohe Gesangskunst und eine sagenhafte Wandlungsfähigkeit und Präsenz in Dynamik, Tongebung und Stimmfärbung. Diese Tugenden bei Chor und Instrumentalsolisten gaben dem Vortrag eine tief bewegende Intensität.

Die Rheinpfalz, Karl Georg Berg, 11.05.2023

J.S. Bach & Mauricio Kagel at Amsterdam Muziekgebouw

What is admirable about this performance is above all the 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

Album: Mozart Requiem

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, 26.06.2020

Album: Brahms A German Requiem with Chorwerk Ruhr

[…] Working with a small group of singers, Florian Helgath finds the forward momentum that keeps Brahms’s 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.

<link http: www.choirandorgan.com _blank>www.choirandorgan.com, Philip Reed, November 2019

"Memoria" with Florian Helgath and ChorWerk Ruhr at Ruhrtriennale

Florian Helgath's plan to prepare de Victoria's vocal polyphony for the search for the sound of New York's school is astounding.(…)  Helgath works in the "Offertorium" at the polyphony of Tomas Luis de Victoria and lets the choir of six voices sound wonderfully changeable. In "Hosianna", quite audible and clear, the moving chant of ChorWerk Ruhr in the motet resumed with the moment of personal grief. In the venue of a factory a reverberation is felt, and in "Absolutio", the choir has a multi-voice ending, which allows the spectrum of the fading sound to swell to a volume which is unimagined. (...)

John Cage has named different tones for soprano, alto, tenor and bass without determining the duration in Four 2 (1990). In certain periods of time the singers have to sing as well as to end their sound chord differently. Helgath has placed couples of singers among the audience. Their entries trains the feeling for the spatial feeling of the illusion of the origin of the sound.(…)

In Morton Feldman's "Rothko Chapel" (1971), one experiences moments as if the sound is released into the world for the first time. (...)The choir holds a tone which is becoming more and more comprehensive, indeed appears absolute. There is a fine concentration, an expectation.

Westfälischer Anzeiger, Achim Lettmann, 27.08.2017

Berio & Striggio with Chorwerk Ruhr at Ruhrtriennale

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 with Florian Helgath and Concerto Köln 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

J.S. Bach: St. John Passion with Florian Helgath

The 25 members of the exceptional vocal ensemble Chorwerk Ruhr are all soloists, but nevertheless they sing in one flow - even though they were positioned not within their voices but mixed. This resulted in a particularly lively and refreshing rendition. A flawless intonation, richly graded development of sound and the clearest diction were self-evident.

Rheinische Post, Heide Oehmen, 05.04.2019

J.S. Bach & Mauricio Kagel at Ruhrtriennale

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

Brahms Requiem in version for piano duo and choir

The ChorWerk Ruhr and Florian Helgath performed in the well-filled Philharmonie Mercatorhalle Duisburg the two most important sacred works of Johannes Brahms, the German Requiem and Why is the light given to the weary with only 29 voices in exemplary concise manner. This was not only extremely transparent and lively, more than ever before, especially in the sixth movement "Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt ", which also gave the goosebumps quality due to the overwhelming euphony. Even for the always first-class iconic ensemble, this was a great moment of choral music.

Rheinische Post, Ingo Hoddick, 28.11.2017

First performance of 'Earth Diver' at Ruhrtriennale in Essen

ChorWerk Ruhr sang under the direction of Florian Helgath very well and delicately, and disarmingly clear – while walking around in the hall.

Westfalenpost online, 22.09.2016

Then ChorWerk Ruhr begins to sing the music of Heinrich Schütz, an early baroque cry from God from the anguish of the Thirty Years' War, and you feel, to borrow a cliché, as though you have died and gone to heaven.

Financial Times, Shirley Apthorp, 24.09.2016

When early music and new music meet at same level: "Memoria" in Dortmund

This requires such an excellent ensemble as the ChorWerk Ruhr, which has given us, under Florian Helgath's prudent management in this concert as part of the Ruhrtriennale, very unusual, exciting and beguiling listening experiences. This is in the machine hall of the coal mine Zollern in Dortmund, where the sound unfolds freely in the room, always remaining tangible despite the enormous dimensions of the building.(…) A fascinating evening.

Westdeutsche Zeitung, Martin Schrahn, 29.08.2017

Philipp Glass: Oper Einstein on the Beach

In Dortmund, ChorWerk Ruhr - a choir of young professional singers who have achieved the international top level within in the last years also through their productions for the Ruhrtriennale - was phenomenally secure in intonation and rhythm, and also playful up to audacity. The founder and musical director Florian Helgath also had the musical overall direction and also conducted the small ensemble of wind instruments and keyboards on which Philipp Glass has built his monumental work.

Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Ulrike Gondorf, 23.04.2017

Florian Helgath and “ChorWerk Ruhr”, the excellent soloist- and adequate nine-headed instrumental ensemble easily mastered the technical requirements. (…) Florian Helgath and the fabulous “ChorWerk Ruhr” achieved essential sound impacts, especially in the few sequences, where the music dissolved from prepunched patterns. (…) The premiere audience was overwhelmed by the wall of pictures and sounds, and reacted accordingly thrilled.

 Westfälische Rundschau, Pedro Obiera, 24.04.2017

Excellent „Paulus“ with ChorWerk Ruhr, Concerto Köln and Florian Helgath in Essen

The 36 choristers left nothing to be desired with its powerful and crystalline sound: neither in the clear lines, nor in the differentiated choral expression or the dramatic emphasis “Steinigt ihn!”. Huge accolades in the Philharmonie.

ikz-online.de 07.03.2017

ChorWerk Ruhr sang Mendelssohns „Paulus" intimately and grippingly

With only 36 singers and 46 musicians, Helgath succeeded not only in a romantic, but also a dramatically gripping interpretation of the story of Paulus.(…) ChorWerk Ruhr convinced with a phased staggered sound: soft and homogenously in the choir "Siehe! Wir preisen selig", dancing and swinging and radiant in the fugue "Der Erdkreis ist nun des Herrn".

Ruhr Nachrichten, Klaus Stübler, 06.03.2017