Ensemble Cristofori & Arthur Schoonderwoerd
Biography Ensemble Cristofori & Arthur Schoonderwoerd
Ensemble Cristofori
is one of the world’s most innovative ensembles for classical and early romantic music. It is an international group of instrumentalists – united in Besançon, France, under the direction of the Dutch fortepianist and conductor Arthur Schoonderwoerd – for historically informed performances and recordings of Western European music from Enlightenment till the Early Romantic Era. The size and disposition of the ensemble is determined by the repertoire being performed, and ranges between a duo to a large instrumental ensemble with vocalists. Based on meticulous research and intensive rehearsal Christofori’s sensitive and colourful performances show new, revolutionary ideas about balance, improvisation, basso continuo, counterpoint and early orchestra sound.
Cristofori can look back on almost fifteen years of international concert tours, performing throughout Europe, Russia and South Africa. It has brought to life over fifty concert programs that encompass the entire spectrum of 18th and early 19th century orchestral music with and without fortepiano. The work of the ensemble is divided between a small touring ensemble of instrumental soloists, and a larger ensemble with vocalists for the performance of masses, opera and oratoriums. Cristofori inspires new generations of young performers, many of whom are trained in professional courses given by Arthur Schoonderwoerd at the Barcelona Superior Conservatory (ESMUC).
Cristofori’s highly praised discography contain the integral version of all six Beethoven piano concertos, a recording with piano concertos of Dutch composers around 1800 (Alpha Productions) and a recording with Gruber concertos (Pan Classics). Since 2011 Cristofori has start a recording project of the complete Mozart Piano concertos for the German label Accent.
