Helsinki Baroque Orchestra

About

Also known as: Barokkiorkesteri Uusi Kapelli, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Uusi Kapelli

Helsinki Baroque Orchestra brings together Finnish musicians who prize emotional directness and a sense of vitality that can make centuries old music feel genuinely alive. Their repertoire spans premieres of unpublished or reconstructed masterworks as well as well known pieces, and they approach both with the same curiosity, often casting familiar works in an unexpected light. German and Baltic music feature prominently in what they play. The ensemble has drawn praise from Gramophone, which called their playing the highest level. Bach's harpsichord concertos are a natural fit for an orchestra like this. Those works gave the harpsichord a leading role far beyond its usual continuo function, and Bach wrote them for an audience of connoisseurs, performed at Leipzig's Café Zimmermann by himself or one of his sons. The concertos are notable for their virtuosity and drama, qualities that point forward to the piano concertos of Mozart and Beethoven.