Summary

“No other instrument is so well suited like the cor anglais to revive images and sentiments of the past, when the composer desires to awaken the secret echo of tender memories.” (Hector Berlioz: A Treatise upon Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration)

The cor anglais, the big sister of the oboe, is given important solo passages in works by composers such as Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz and Dmitri Shostakovich. Since 1993, Wollenweber has dedicated himself to this soulful instrument with the Berliner Philharmoniker. He has an earlier connection with the orchestra as a student of principal oboe Hansjörg Schellenberger in the Philharmoniker’s Orchestra Academy. In our film portrait, the musician, whose father held the same position with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, is shown together with his family and in excerpts from orchestral works. Wollenweber also speaks about the character of his instrument, the painstaking, hand-crafted production of the mouthpiece, and the challenge of appearing in Digital Concert Hall broadcasts in front of thousands of spectators.