Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment emerged in 1986 when a cohort of youthful London instrumentalists, each steeped in historically informed techniques, banded together as a period-instrument ensemble. Operating without a fixed conductor, the group has cultivated a cooperative model that places decision-making in the hands of its 26 current members, although section leaders exist and, as of 2021, four concertmasters—violinists Huw Daniel, Kati Debretzeni, Margaret Faultless, and Matthew Truscott—guide the ensemble. This structure has drawn distinguished guests such as Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, and Iván Fischer to the podium; both Rattle and Frans Brüggen have served as principal guest conductors.

While its core repertoire spans the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the orchestra has extended period-instrument performances from Monteverdi through Mahler. Sustained partnerships link it to major opera houses: it became associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2002 and first appeared at the Royal Opera in 1995, presenting Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra in its original 1857 form. The ensemble maintains a residency at London’s Southbank Centre, where it presents an annual series, and has performed twice at the BBC Proms. It also stages an informal series titled “The Night Shift” and has toured extensively across the United States, South America, and Southeast Asia. In September 2020 the orchestra relocated its base to the Acland Burghley School campus in Tufnell Park, Camden, installing rehearsal, administrative, archival, and recording facilities on site.

Since its first recording in 1992—an account of C.P.E. Bach’s oratorio The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus—the group has documented its work for Virgin Classics, Sony, Signum Classics, and additional labels. Its most recent project, issued on ECM in summer 2021, features pianist András Schiff in the Brahms piano concertos.