Ensemble

The European Baroque Orchestra Le Chardon has great variability:

• An orchestra of exactly the size you need for oratorios, passions, masses and cantatas (even as a double orchestra).
• An ensemble in variable sizes – from a small orchestra for cantatas and instrumental concerts down to a chamber-music ensemble (quintet to duet).

The European Baroque Orchestra Le Chardon was formed in 1995 by Hajo Wienroth to perform French baroque music on period instruments. Following the success of their first concerts, the ensemble soon found their interests developing towards the music of the 18th and 19th centuries and towards music for larger ensembles. Now a chamber orchestra, they regularly perform larger-scale oratorios, masses and passions, working with many renowned singers and choirs in churches, for festivals (including the „Musikalischer Sommer in Ostfriesland und Groningen“, the „MUSE“ in Seelze, the „Barockfestival in Bad Arolsen“ and the NDR and WDR) as well as for radio.

Le Chardon’s musicians come together from across Europe, including Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Sweden and the UK. Their working brief is to ensure that their performances are guided as closely as possible by original sources and scores. Exploring little-played or undiscovered works is also important to the group, which has resulted in many first performances of largely unknown works from the baroque era. The music is performed exclusively at the pitch customary at the time of composition, on period instruments or very good copies of instruments of the time.

Le Chardon now has a number of recordings to its name. In 2007 Hajo Wienroth founded „Lunaris CD Produktion“, which has released unknown music and first editions as well as more mainstream repertoire in collaboration with leading singers. In this way, rarely played works are made accessible to a wider public.

The artistic direction of the orchestra is in the hands of Hajo Wienroth; the organisation is managed jointly by Ute Schildt and Hajo Wienroth.

„Le Chardon“ (the thistle) was chosen as the group’s name because, although it is a beautiful flower that embodies the beauty of the music, it is also a flower that has thorns. Le Chardon does not only want to bring beauty; it also wants to provoke thought and to express both joy and sorrow in its music, thereby highlighting the original and natural essence of music in a positive way.