Arte del mondo, L'
Founded in 2004 by its artistic director Werner Ehrhardt, the orchestra l’arte del mondo sees itself in the tradition of early music performed on historical instruments. However, it also dedicates itself to playing on modern instruments and to a repertoire that extends to contemporary music. One of l’arte del mondo’s hallmarks is its unconventional programming, including musical-intercultural encounters, opera projects, and the rediscovery of forgotten works.
Historically informed performance practice is the starting point for the ensemble and its work. l’arte del mondo is characterized by highly innovative programs that look far beyond the confines of conventional concert programming and thus into its future. These have included genre-crossing projects with the Turkish Pera Ensemble (Carneval Oriental, The Abduction alla Turca), with artists from the Peking Opera (Gluck’s Le Cinesi), and with Israeli and Palestinian musicians (Israel in Egypt, Night in the Desert). With Daniel Hope and The Four Seasons Recomposed, Max Richter’s sensationally successful reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, l’arte del mondo toured the world. Another highlight was the sensational dance interpretation of St. Matthew Passion 2727 with the Israeli Kamea Dance Company, which was performed in both Germany and Israel, including at the Jerusalem Theatre, as well as the fascinating European-Indian collaborative production Indian Swan Lake with the Orissa Dance Academy from India.
l’arte del mondo regularly collaborates with renowned soloists, such as Daniel Hope, Nils Mönkemeyer, Daniel Müller-Schott, Dorothee Oberlinger, Avi Avital, and Xavier de Maistre. In past seasons, l’arte del mondo has performed at venues including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Herkulessaal in Munich, with its own residency at the Montréal Baroque Festival, with Salieri’s opera La Fiera di Venezia at the SWR Schwetzingen Festival, at the MDR Music Summer, the Deutschlandfunk Grund ton-D concerts, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Mosel Music Festival, in the theaters of Winterthur and Darmstadt, and also in the Dresden Frauenkirche. l’arte del mondo has also performed at venues including the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Liederhalle Stuttgart, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Philharmonie Essen, the Schiffbau Zürich, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and the Dubai Opera.
Since its founding, l’arte del mondo has documented its extraordinary work on nearly 40 albums in collaboration with labels such as Sony Classical and Capriccio. These albums include numerous world premieres and rediscoveries – in the realm of symphonic works, opera, and oratorio.
