Dutch conductor Jacques Ogg is retiring after 25 years as Lyra Baroque’s artistic director

If you ever feel compelled to complain about your commute, consider the one that Jacques Ogg has been taking for 25 years as artistic director of the Twin Cities-based Lyra Baroque Orchestra.

A native of Maastricht — the same Dutch city that brought the world classical crossover schmaltz king André Rieu — and a professor at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, Ogg has been flying to Minnesota four to seven times a year to prepare and present concerts with Lyra Baroque, usually spending a fortnight here on each visit.

But those regular sojourns are coming to an end, as Ogg is retiring after leading for the first quarter of the 21st century a group that’s become internationally renowned for its way with music of the 17th and 18th centuries. He’ll say farewell with final concerts this weekend in Rochester and St. Paul.

And it looks to be a grand going-away party, as some of Ogg’s favorite musicians will be joining the harpsichordist and conductor for five of his favorite pieces. Hence, the title of the program, “Les Favorites.” Not that the 76-year-old Ogg is through playing music.

“I cannot stop,” the jovial Dutchman said when reached at his home in the Netherlands village of Bunde. “Once you have a passion, you don’t want to. And I’m not good at anything else. I’ll certainly go on until I can’t do it anymore. And that’s not the case yet.”

So how did this man from Maastricht end up in Minnesota?

“Through somebody who studied at the Hague, Julie Elhard,” Ogg said. “I was leading ensembles in the Hague and doing projects and leading the student orchestra there. So Julie said, ‘Why don’t you apply?’”

“Jacques has transformed the orchestra in marvelous ways through his own immense knowledge of baroque music and performance practice,” she said. “And by bringing in world-class leaders in baroque music to train and enrich our understanding of this music.”

Indeed, the company Ogg keeps has been a big part of Lyra’s evolution from a group of enthusiastic early music nerds to a widely renowned “historically informed performance” (or HIP) ensemble that attempts to re-create the sound of the 1700s and earlier on replica instruments.

“It’s also that I am a teacher,” Ogg said. “I won’t stop talking about ‘Why?’ Why do I want to do that? And why I don’t like things I don’t like.”

During Ogg’s tenure, Lyra’s international profile was aided by two tours of Spain, one of which found them staying and performing at a medieval monastery that once was home to the composer whose work they were performing, Antonio Soler. For another visit, Ogg reconstructed an opera by Luigi Boccherini from ancient manuscripts, giving the music its first performances in centuries. He’s made a specialty of such musical archaeology.

“I always try to put some unknown repertoire on the programs,” he said. “Paired with something like [J.S. Bach’s] Brandenburg Concertos or ‘The Four Seasons’ by Vivaldi. And we’ve collaborated on [George Frideric Handel’s] ‘Messiah.’

It’s a legacy that will be taken up by Ogg’s successor, violinist Bojan Čičić, who also leads one of the world’s most celebrated early music ensembles, the Academy of Ancient Music in Oxford, England. He’ll arrive in the fall. But first, a final toast to the maestro with some very talented friends.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

With: Harpsichordist and conductor Jacques Ogg, violinist Marc Destrubé, flutist Immanuel Davis, recorder player Clea Galhano and soprano Maria Jette.

What: Works by Georg Telemann, J.S. Bach, Jean-Marie Leclair and Luigi Boccherini.

When and where: 7:30 p.m. Fri., Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 2830 18th Av. NW., Rochester; 7:30 p.m. Sat., Sundin Music Hall, 1531 Hewitt Av., St. Paul.