Biography
Historically informed performance practice on modern instruments – that was the concept which brought musicians from the Berliner Philharmoniker and leading representatives of the early music scene together to form the Berlin Baroque Soloists in 1995. The formation was considered an innovative project, because at the time – as violinist Raimar Orlovsky recalls - “there was no focus at all on early music in our orchestra”. But in Rainer Kussmaul, the Berliner Philharmoniker had a first concertmaster who infected his colleagues with his enthusiasm for baroque music. The members of the ensemble made a conscious decision to interpret 17th and 18th century compositions on modern instruments. This lead them to develop the unique sound culture which has become their trademark. When Rainer Kussmaul retired in 2010, the ensemble placed the artistic direction in different hands until 2017, including those of Bernhard Forck, Daniel Hope and Frank Peter Zimmermann. Since 2018, Reinhard Goebel has been at the helm; the ensemble had released a highly-acclaimed recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos with him the previous year. Raimar Orlovsky describes the collaboration with Goebel is an “opportunity to further develop performance practice on modern instruments and to redefine it once again for the music world”.
Musicians
Zoltán Almási
Sebastian Heesch
Kotowa Machida
Anna Mehlin
Raimar Orlovsky
Christoph Streuli
Julia Gartemann
Walter Küssner
Dorian Xhoxhi
Raphael Alpermann
Kristin von der Goltz
Artistic director: Reinhard Goebel
Official website