Concerto Köln (Musical group)

Concerto Köln is an ensemble specialising in music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The group formed in 1985, one of many groups associated with the surging interest in period instruments in that decade. Its members consisted mainly of recent graduates of conservatories from across Europe. They began touring the Continent, often making appearances at major festivals. In 1992, they founded the Cologne Festival of Early Music with the aid of Deutschland Radio. They receive no government subsidies, and do not have a permanent conductor, though the group has an artistic director, Martin Sandhoff. Among the concert masters is Evgeny Sviridov. Their repertory stretches from early Baroque on through the Classical Era and as far into the nineteenth century as Wagner. They have also done a number of collaborative works, such as a disc juxtaposing Turkish folk music with pieces in a Turkish style by composers such as Mozart. They have recorded frequently with, among others, René Jacobs, Daniel Harding, Louis Langrée, David Stern, Ivor Bolton, Marcus Creed, Christopher Moulds, and Evelino Pidò.