Freiburg BaroqueConsort

The Freiburg BaroqueConsort specialises in the less common music of the 17th and early 18th century. Consisting of members of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the aim of this formation has always been to present unusual programmes that rediscover pieces which seldom, if ever, appear in current concert repertoires, or to present supposedly well-known works in a new light played from an unusual perspective. Thus the ensemble’s programmatic horizon extends from English (“A Masque of Beauty”) to north German music (“Abendt Musick”, “Bach und Freunde”), from compositions of the Habsburg period (“Habsburger Serenade”) and early Italian baroque music to combinations of baroque and contemporary music (“Zeitsprünge”).

Above all, the vivid and extraordinarily virtuoso compositions of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Heinrich Schmelzer, Georg Muffat and Antonio Bertali belong to the core repertoire of the Freiburg BaroqueConsort. In addition to CDs offering works by these composers, the FBC has also successfully recorded the chamber music of Georg Philipp Telemann, rescuing it from oblivion. Thus international critics greeted the release of Telemann’s “Pariser Quartetten” as a “ringing plea” (klassik heute) in which music is presented “at the highest level, with elegance, flair and sensitivity” (FONO FORUM): “performances of considerable technical and musical proficiency, marked by tight ensemble and confident virtuosity” (Gramophone).

The Freiburg BaroqueConsort is also dedicated to performing vocal music. A new CD has therefore recently been released under the title “In bel giardino”, a recording of madrigals by Giovanni Valentini, together with the Orlando di Lasso Ensemble. Recent projects included a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. John’s passion” with a small cast of singers and instrumentalists, as well as Bach's "Art of the Fugue" in a version for strings and winds.

A CD with works by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer was recently recorded and will be published by harmonia mundi France in spring 2012.