Collegium Vocale 1704

The Prague-based Baroque orchestra Collegium 1704 and its associate vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale 1704 were founded in 2005 by the harpsichordist Václav Luks. Both ensembles are regular guests at festivals throughout Europe. In addition to performing major Baroque works, they have particularly facilitated the rediscovery of the work of Czech composers such as Jan Dismas Zelenka and Josef Mysliveček.

In 2008 the ensembles launched the ‘Music Bridge Prague—Dresden’ concert series. Collaborations with renowned soloists Magdalena Kožená, Vivica Genaux and Bejun Mehta led in 2012 to a second concert series, entitled ‘Collegium 1704 at the Rudolfinum’. In 2019 the ensemble initiated a chamber concert series, which since 2021 has taken place in the new Prague cultural centre Vzlet.

Following the international success of a 2009 production of Handel’s Rinaldo, 2013 was dedicated to the rediscovery of the music of Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. Collegium 1704 presented his opera L’Olimpiade in Prague, Caen, Dijon, Luxembourg and at the Theater an der Wien, receiving a nomination at the 2014 International Opera Awards. In 2017 Collegium 1704 revived Vivaldi’s Arsilda, regina di Ponto, 300 years after its world premiere. In 2022 and 2023 the ensemble presented Handel’s Alcina directed by Jiří Heřman, in a co-production with Národní divadlo Brno, the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles and the Théâtre de Caen.

Recent projects include performances at the Salzburg Festivals, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie, the Wigmore Hall, Bozar in Brussels, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Theater an der Wien, along with residencies at Versailles and at Bachfest Leipzig. In May 2021 Collegium 1704 opened the Prague Spring Festival with Smetana’s Má vlast (My Country).

The ensemble’s recordings are popular with both listeners and music critics, and have won awards including the Diapason d’Or, and a nomination for the Gramophone Classical Music Award. Collegium 1704’s most important recent releases include the first complete Czech recording of Handel’s Messiah, and a three-CD set of Rameau’s opera Les Boréades, which won the Trophées 2020 and Edison Klassiek awards for the best opera release of the year.

In 2021, the ensemble founded its own online platform UNIVERSO 1704 with video-concerts that connect exceptional works in top-class interpretations with the genius loci of attractive places in the Czech Republic and Germany.