Basel Chamber Orchestra

The Basel Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1984 by graduates of various Swiss music academies. It is dedicated to a wide repertoire ranging from music of the Baroque, which they play on historical instruments, to works of the 20th and 21st centuries. The musicians work with a varying roster of such conductors as Paul Goodwin, Mario Venzago, and Trevor Pinnock. Giovanni Antonini has a prominent position as permanent guest conductor. Under his direction the Basel Chamber Orchestra has performed and recorded a complete cycle of the Beethoven symphonies; their recording of the Third and Fourth Symphonies won the Ensemble of the Year Award in 2008 from ECHO Klassik. In 2014 Antonini embarked on the project “Haydn 2032” with the ensemble and his own Il Giardino Armonico, which involves performing all 104 Haydn symphonies by the composer’s 300th birthday. The performances will take place in Basel as well as in such “residency” cities as Zurich, Eisenstadt, and Berlin. This ambitious undertaking will also be released on CD. The Basel Chamber Orchestra concertizes with many prominent soloists as part of its own subscription series in Basel and on tours; in recent years these have included such names as Cecilia Bartoli, Sol Gabetta, Sabine Meyer, Viktoria Mullova, Nuria Rial, and Fazil Say. In the 2015-16 season they will give concerts with Andreas Scholl, Franco Fagioli, Hélène Grimaud, and Renaud Capuçon. Literary-musical recitals, a chamber music series at the Ackermannshof in Basel, and a far-reaching commitment to education fill out the profile of the ensemble, which has also been portrayed in the documentary film Bartóks Quinten (2010). Their most recent recording, which was released in March 2015, is the CD Revolution with Emmanuel Pahud and features flute concertos from the era circa 1789.

August 2015