NFM Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
Founded in 2006 by Andrzej Kosendiak, it is a resident ensemble of the Witold Lutosławski National Forum of Music, one of the few cultural institutions in Poland boasting its own Baroque orchestra playing period instruments. Since its inception, the orchestra’s artistic director has been the superb cellist Jarosław Thiel.
Today, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra is considered to be one of the most important Polish ensembles playing period instruments. Its achievements and high artistic level result in cooperation with the greatest names of the international early music scene. The ensemble has performed under the baton of such conductors as Philippe Herreweghe, Giovanni Antonini, Andrew Parrott, Masaaki Suzuki, Ivor Bolton, Martin Haselböck and Paul McCreesh. It also has invited excellent ensembles, including the Orchester Wiener Akademie, Bach Collegium Japan, Collegium Vocale Gent, RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, Gli Angeli Geneve, and outstanding soloists such as Vivica Genaux, Andreas Scholl, Ian Bostridge, Julia Lezhneva, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Giuliano Carmignola, Regula Mühlemann, Renata Pokupić, Jakub Józef Orliński and Jean-Guihen Queyras.
In 2017, an album Haydn The Seasons 1801 was released, the result of the orchestra’s collaboration with Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort & Players (Gramophone magazine’s ‘Best Choral Recording 2017’ nomination, BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Record of the Month’). In 2018, the album 17th‑Century Sacred Music in Wrocław, recorded with Gli Angeli Geneve and Concerto Palatino under the direction of Stephan MacLeod was released by Claves Records. The CD received the 2019 International Classical Music Award in the ‘Baroque Music, Vocal’ category. In 2022, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra’s latest albums were released: Johann David Heinichen – Dresden Vespers (world phonographic premiere; Accent), recorded with Ensemble Polyharmonique, and Kings in the North, recorded with baritone Tomáš Král (nominated in several categories for the Opus Klassik award) – both conducted by Jarosław Thiel.
[2024]