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The year 2008 saw the official launch of the Concerto Melante on the international music scene. The ensemble is named after Georg Philipp Telemann, who formed the suggestive, Italianate–sounding pseudonym “Melante” anagrammatically from the syllables of his family name.
But even prior to the official launch, ensemble members had joined forces regularly over the past 10 years and had appeared in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. The origins of today's Concerto Melante can be traced back to 1998 and the concert series “Members and Guests of the Berliner Philharmoniker on Historical Instruments.”
Four of the ensemble’s eight members perform with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the remainder belong to early music ensembles - all have played for years with the Berliner Barock Solisten, and some are even founding members. The Concerto Melante regards itself as an extension of the Berliner Barock Solisten, as an enhancement and an alternative regarding repertoire choice, ensemble size (here much reduced), and the decision to use historical instruments exclusively. |
