In 1981, Frans Brüggen, Lucy van Dael and friends founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, consisting of fifty members from twenty different countries. Six or more times a year the orchestra assembles to go on tour. The musicians, all specialists in eighteenth and early nineteenth century music, play on period instruments or on contemporary copies.
The wide-ranging repertoire this orchestra performs includes works by Purcell, Bach, Rameau, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Chopin, and has been recorded for Philips Classics and nowadays for The Grand Tour / Glossa.
In August 2014, the Orchestra had to say farewell to Brüggen. While the collaboration between the orchestra and its founding father came to an end with his death, Brüggen’s inspiration remains and will guide the Orchestra for years to come. The Orchestra continues the tradition of six or more projects a year, now by inviting guests and guest conductors to lead.
VIDEO
PRESS
„Kippenvel!“
Trouw, 9th October 2021
„The other starry performance of the evening came from the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.“
Bachtrack, 16th October 2019
SELECTION OF PROJECTS 2024/25
July, August, 12 November – 7 December 2024, as well as upon request
The Voice of the Recorder
With Lucie Horsch, recorder & musical direction
Works by J. S. Bach, A. Vivaldi and R. Namavar (new work, inspired from Vivaldi)
May 2025
with Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
W. A. Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major
as well as other works by W. A. Mozart and J. B. Vañhal
DOWNLOADS
PAST CONCERTS – A SELECTION
25 MAY 2022 Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
J. Haydn: The Seasons
Nicolas Altstaedt, Dirigent / Christina Landhamer (Hanne) / Ian Bostridge (Lukas) / Florian Boesch (Simon) Capella Amsterdam
