Concentus Musicus Wien
The Concentus Musicus Wien is an instrumental ensemble, which specializes in the performance of early music.
As the original ensemble sound of the first hour of the Concentus Musicus Wien, the historical performance practice and its success paved the way. The orchestra was founded in 1953 by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who directed the ensemble until 1987 by the cello and is still artistic director. "The music of each era can be most vividly with the sound means its time " is Harnoncourt's credo. More than four years spent the musicians of the ensemble initially be available to rehearsals, honed the sound image and an adequate interpretation of baroque and vorbarocker works until they Palais Schwarzenberg in Vienna's first came to the public in 1957.
The event quickly found its sequel: with annual concert series in Vienna, guest performances (from 1960) and a variety of LP recordings - the Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach marked the beginning here. Among the many spectacular projects of the Concentus Musicus Wien is one among others the complete recording of Bach's cantatas in cooperation with the Leonhardt Consort came under Gustav Leonhardt between 1970 and 1990 and won a Gramophone Award.
Even with opera recordings and performances, the ensemble has emerged: mention may be made, for example, Mozart's Lucio Silla and Il re pastore, Haydn's Armida, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Salzburg Festival and The Fairy Queen or Monteverdi's L' Orfeo, Castor et Pollux by Jean Philippe Rameau (this picture had almost similar effect as the Monteverdi recordings, namely a kind of renaissance of these works ) as well as numerous oratorios of George Frideric Handel. Finally, the rehearsed at styriarte CD with Haydn's Orlando Paladino and a recording of Mozart's Zaide published.
The repertoire of the Concentus Musicus stretches today from the Renaissance up to Haydn and Mozart, it includes both sacred and secular works. Concertmaster in the footsteps of Alice Harnoncourt is Erich Höbarth, for the continuo harpsichord and organ ran until 2010 Herbert Tachezi.
2013 the ensemble was awarded the ECHO Klassik Orchestra of the Year ( Historical Instruments ).