For more than fifteen years Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s performances and recordings have been captivating audiences with a potent combination of emotional eloquence and infectious vitality. Their programmes frequently include first modern performances of unpublished or reconstructed masterpieces, and also shed unexpected and often provocative new light on more familiar works. Their music-making has contributed to the ensemble’s reputation as major exponents of Baltic and German Baroque music. At home, ground-breaking productions of operas by Handel and Haydn have earned the orchestra wide recognition. Since 2011 Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s monthly series at the Helsinki Music Centre has reached a large, new and enthusiastic public. A visionary selection of repertoire and guest artists has ignited the audience in an unprecedented way, and in the process catalysed early music’s elevation to something of a cult status in Finland. Helsinki Baroque’s sound has enthralled listeners from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to Berlin’s Konzerthaus, and at major festivals such as those of Bergen, Bremen, Rheingau and Jerusalem. Recurring soloists and guest directors include Franco Fagioli, Isabelle Faust, Reinhard Goebel, Erich Höbarth, René Jacobs, Julia Lezhneva, Enrico Onofri and Skip Sempé.

Photo: Heikki Tuuli