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The Ars Longa Chamber Orchestra (Ars Longa Kamaraegyüttes) was founded in 1995 to perform J.S. Bach's St John Passion (BWV 245) under the baton of Soma Dinyés, who has been the artistic director ever since. The members then were still students at the Academy of Music, who were interested in the authentic performance of Baroque oratorical works. The orchestra's repertoire chiefly features the oratorical works of J.S. Bach and George Frideric Handel, which it performs on historical instruments with small solo-style vocal ensembles
Ars Longa regularly gives concerts in Hungary and abroad. In the 2002-2003 season they performed J.S. Bach's first annual Leipzig cantata cycle at the Evangelical church at Bécsi kapu tér, in the course of over 50 concerts. The performance received very good response from the members of the Hungarian music life, and earned them invitations to several festivals, such as the Zemplén Festival, the Pécs Spring Festival or the Kodály Festival in Kecskemét.
Ars Longa’s first CD’s feature the works of J.S. Bach (Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248), The Magnificat in E-flat major (BWV 243a), Christmas Cantatas BWV BWV 63, BWV 40, BWV 64) and Mozart (Mass in C minor, K 427), and G.F. Handel's Water Music. Their last two CD’s - Banchieri's Sinfonie ecclesiastiche with the Ars Renata, and Rauch's Currus triumphalis musicus with the Budapest Tomkins Vocal Ensemble - were recorded for Hungaroton. |
