The Freiburg Baroque Consort specializes in music of the 17th and early 18th centuries written for smaller ensembles. Made up of members of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the group has been committed since its inception to rediscovering little-known works, devising unusual programmes and casting a new perspective on supposedly familiar music.
Their programme horizons extend from English works (A Masque of Beauty) to North German music (Abendt-Musick and Bach und Freunde), from compositions of the Habsburg Empire (Habsburger Serenade) and the early Italian Baroque to a combination of Baroque and contemporary pieces (Zeitsprünge).
Above all, the vivid and virtuosic compositions of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Georg Muffat and Antonio Bertali are at the heart of the Freiburg Baroque Consort’s repertory. Alongside CD recordings of works by these composers, the Freiburg Baroque Consort has successfully promoted the now almost-forgotten chamber music of Georg Philipp Telemann through its recording activity.
The Freiburg Baroque Consort is also committed to performing vocal music. The group has recorded a disc of madrigals by Giovanni Valentini entitled In bel giardino with the Orlando di Lasso Ensemble, performed a one-to-a-part version of Bach’s St John Passion and devised a programme of ‘Orpheus’ cantatas by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Johann Joseph Fux with Dorothee Mields.
Recently the Freiburg Baroque Consort has collaborated closely with the Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis. Alongside numerous concerts, this has led to a recording of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s Requiem, which has received much acclaim from the public and the press.
