Concerto Köln

Emerging amid the surge of period-instrument ensembles during the 1980s, Concerto Köln has secured its place among the foremost historical-performance groups worldwide. Operating as an independent, self-directed collective without state support, the ensemble enjoys latitude to explore an expansive repertoire that encompasses both familiar and seldom-heard scores drawn chiefly from the Baroque and Classical periods; it further established the Cologne Festival of Early Music to showcase this breadth.

The ensemble took shape in 1985 when graduates from several European conservatories joined forces. Almost at once it launched European tours of its Baroque and Classical programs, regularly appearing at prominent festivals. Retaining its autonomous structure, Concerto Köln continues to forgo government funding. This egalitarian outlook also precludes a permanent conductor: after Werner Ehrhardt led from the first violin desk, Martin Sandhoff assumed the artistic directorship in 2005 and held the position until 2015, when Alexander Scherf succeeded him.

In 1992, partnering with Deutschland Radio, the group inaugurated the Cologne Festival of Early Music, which each season spotlights the instrumental and operatic output of one composer—often overlooked figures such as Alfredo Kraus, Johann Baptist Vanhal, or Pietro Locatelli. While individual members frequently pursue separate chamber-music activities, the ensemble regularly engages outside collaborators, among them a Turkish ensemble for a tour and recording that juxtaposed eighteenth-century pseudo-Turkish works, including Mozart’s “Overture to the Abduction” from Seraglio, with the authentic folk sources that shaped them. On stage and in the studio, Concerto Köln has worked with numerous distinguished artists, among them Cecilia Bartoli, Vivica Genaux, and Arsys Bourgogne. A sustained research and performance partnership with conductor Kent Nagano, launched in 2011, produced concerts, recordings, and, in 2017, the “Wagner Readings,” a project devoted to historically informed interpretations of Wagner’s Ring Cycle that culminated in a complete performance cycle beginning in 2021. Nagano received the title of honorary conductor from Concerto Köln in 2019.

Although the ensemble has recorded principally for Berlin Classics, its discography also appears on Teldec, Decca, Warner Classics, and Sony Classical, among other labels. Its releases traverse repertory ranging from Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Francesco Durante through Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart to Mendelssohn. Representative titles include Airs D’Opéras Italiens (2007, with Natalie Dessay), Amoureuses (2008, with Patricia Petibon), and Johann Christian Bach: Mailänder Vesperpsalmen (2011). In 2020 Concerto Köln released an album of Vivaldi works with Martin Fröst and a recording of Mozart’s Requiem with Chorwerk Ruhr and Florian Helgath.