The Collegium Cartusianum, which was formed in 1988 as the successor to the Cologne Baroque Orchestra, plays on original instruments, with a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Felix Mendelssohn. Not least through their participation in performing the complete masses of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Collegium has achieved the reputation of ‘being on a level with the leading English and Dutch ensembles’ (M. Mezger in Stereoplay). In addition to collaboration with Kölner Kammerchor (Cologne Chamber Choir) and the Cologne Kartäuserkantorei, the Collegium Cartusianum has also won international recognition with its performances of J.S. Bach’s orchestral suites, Mozart’s and L.v. Beethoven’s symphonies, and, with Andreas Staier at the fortepiano, Mozart’s piano concertos.
With Mozart’s Il Re pastore (at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw), F. Mendelssohn’s St Paul and Schubert’s Lazarus (at the Folle journeé Schubert in Nantes), the orchestra has extended its repertoire into opera and the romantic period. It has appeared in many of the major European festivals, for example the BBC Promenade concerts, the Flanders Festival and the Händel Festival in Halle. |