Concerto Köln 

Concerto Köln 

plays 

Bach‘s 

Brandenburg

Concertos

and rebuilds an instrument

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Touring Programs

The Baroque in England, France, Germany and Italy

Bach and Italy

Bach and the Dance Rhythms of France

Concertare

Vienna

Pastorale – Concertos for Christmas

The Virtuoso Dresden Orchestra

Pergolesi & Pärt

The French Violin School and the Debut of Romanticism

Beethoven Piano Concerti

Baroque Trumpet: Purcell and Händel

Ivor Bolton, conductor, congratulates Concerto Köln on their 25th anniversary

“The joy and panache of Concerto Köln’s music-making has been one of my great musical experiences of the last few years. Whether it be on the concert platform or in the opera house, these dedicated musicians use their fantastic skills to recreate the impulse behind the score. May they continue in this way for the next 25 years, bringing pleasure to the public and inspiration to their colleagues."

Biography

Concerto Köln was founded in 1985, and it was not long before it had established a solid place amongst the highest-ranking orchestras for historical performance practice. From the very beginning, 

both audience and critics alike were highly enthusiastic about the energetic performance style of the ensemble. Thoroughly-researched interpretations brought to the stage with a new vivacity soon became the trademark of Concerto Köln, quickly paving the way to the most renowned concert halls and music festivals. During extensive tours throughout the USA, South East Asia, Canada, Latin America, Japan, Israel and most countries in Europe, Concerto Köln has spread its musical message and the name of its hometown throughout the world. A partnership with the leading High End Audio specialists, MBL (www.mbl-germany.de), was established in October of 2009. Both the company and the orchestra combine shared goals and values: “We maintain a similar philosophy and Concerto Köln pursues the same goals at a musical level as we do at the technical-musical level – to evoke the listener’s emotions through technical perfection and passion.” (MBL)

Concerto Köln is working in close collaboration with the label Berlin Classics and has numerous recordings with the Deutsche Grammophon, Harmonia Mundi, Teldec, EMI-Virgin Classics and Capriccio and is able to boast a discography of more than 50 CDs, many of which have been awarded by Echo, Grammy, The German Record Critics Award, the Choc du Monde de la Musique, the Diapason d’Année or the Diapason d'Or. The CD, “Symphonies”, including works by Henri-Joseph Rigel (BERLIN classics/Edel) was honoured just recently with the Echo Klassik Award 2009 in the category “Symphonic Recording of the Year”. 

The musicians of the ensemble have been described as "musical truffle pigs" and it is fair to say that the orchestra has, with striking consistency, re-discovered composers whose beautiful music has remained hidden in the shadows of the great names and unfortunately forgotten by historyY. Since 2005, Martin Sandhoff is responsible for the artistic direction of the orchestra. In addition to concertmasters from within Concerto Köln, external concert masters are also engaged on a regular basis. The size of the ensemble varies according to program and repertoire. As an ensemble that feels a responsibility to historical performance practice, Concerto Köln performs predominantly without a conductor. For large-scale productions such as operas and oratorios, Concerto Köln enjoys working together with conductors including René Jacobs, Marcus Creed, Daniel Harding, Evelino Pidò, Ivor Bolton, David Stern, Daniel Reuss, Pierre Cao, Laurence Equilbey and Emmanuelle Haïm. 

Further musical partners include the mezzo-sopranos Cecilia Bartoli, Waltraud Meier, Magdalena Kožená, Vivica Genaux and Jennifer Larmore, the sopranos Natalie Dessay, Patricia Petibon, Malin Hartelius and Véronique Gens, the counter tenors Andreas Scholl, Matthias Rexroth and Philippe Jaroussky, the tenor Christoph Prégardien, the pianist Andreas Staier, the actor Bruno Ganz and Ulrich Tukur, the director Peter Sellars as well as the Balthasar-Neuman-Choir, the NDR Choir, the RIAS Chamber Choir, Accentus and Arsys de Bourgogne.

As for Bach‘s orchestral suites, Concerto Köln chose the tuning pitch of a1=392Hz for the Brandenburg Concertos. The highly virtuosic trumpet part in the second concerto is one argument that supports the use of this particular pitch."The high trumpet passages seem significantly more idiomatic in the lower tuning pitch and it is possible to produce a softer blend within the quartet of soloists," explains Lorenzo Alpert.

In Baroque era Germany, such a high trumpet part would most likely have been played on a so-called "French or Chamber-Pitched F Trumpet" which was tuned a whole tone higher than the "German Trumpet." It is highly likely that Bach wrote the second Brandenburg for this instrument. Trumpet player,Hannes Rux, plays a modified instrument that is adjusted to the lowered tuning pitch of the strings and woodwinds.