Freiburger Barockorchester

The Freiburger Barockorchester specializes in historically informed performances of Baroque repertoire on period instruments, while also venturing into Classical and Romantic works. Leadership typically falls to its concertmaster, with ensemble members frequently taking solo roles.

Established in 1987 in Freiburg—the city often called the unofficial capital of the Black Forest—a circle of students united by their passion for authentic Baroque instrumentation created the orchestra. For its initial three years the ensemble operated without a permanent conductor, instead choosing one of its own musicians to direct each program as needed. In 1990 Thomas Hengelbrock and Gottfried von der Goltz became joint musical directors, a partnership that continued until Hengelbrock’s departure in 1997; Petra Müllejans then assumed the post alongside von der Goltz. Kristian Bezuidenhout succeeded Müllejans in 2017. The orchestra continues to engage guest conductors for larger-scale pieces and frequently performs conductorless.

The ensemble maintains a busy international touring schedule and records regularly, employing distinguished guest conductors for roughly one-quarter of its live appearances yet never on disc. During the final phase of Deutsche Harmonia Mundi’s affiliation with BMG, the orchestra supplied several standout releases, including its provocative account of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor under Hengelbrock, widely regarded as the first recent interpretation to offer a genuinely fresh perspective on the score. The group is equally noted for its vocal collaborations, among them appearances with Sandrine Piau and Angelika Kirchschlager—the latter featured on the Christmas DVD Sounds Like Christmas. Although the Freiburger Barockorchester did not participate in Cecilia Bartoli’s recording of Opera Proibita, it toured the program with her under Müllejans’s direction. The Freiburger BarockConsort, a smaller ensemble, draws its personnel from the orchestra’s core membership.

Following BMG’s closure of its classical division in 1999, the orchestra has recorded for Virgin, Naïve, and Harmonia Mundi, among other labels. It received the Echo Klassik Award for Ensemble of the Year (Historical Instruments) in 2012 and has remained prolific on disc, releasing multiple albums annually. Recent projects include a 2019 Aparte recording of Mozart’s Youth Symphonies and a Harmonia Mundi cycle of Beethoven’s piano concertos featuring Bezuidenhout as soloist and Pablo Heras-Casado conducting; the final installment appeared in 2022, the same year the orchestra signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.