Collegium Vocale Gent

Orchestre des Champs Elysées

Herreweghe's desire to cover a wide repertoire ranging from Renaissance to twentieth century music has resulted in the creation of several ensembles. Collegium Vocale of Ghent has celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2000, and has focused mainly on the music of J.S. Bach and his forerunners. In the space of a few years the period-instrument Orchestre des Champs Elysées (1991) has gained an excellent reputation for its fresh approach to nineteenth-century symphonic repertoire. Herreweghe has made over 60 recordings for Harmonia Mundi with these ensembles.

The name of La Chapelle Royale, initially a french baroque repertoire ensemble, is now held by the choir and frequently worksin collaboration with the Collegium Vocale and the Orchestre des Champs Elysées for highly praised CD projects such as Mozart's C minor mass, Mendelssohn's Elijah, St Paul and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis , Mozart's Requiem and the Brahms German Requiem. These groups have recently performed and recorded Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ, a recording that received the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis in February 1998, Beethoven Symphony n° 9 and Schumann's Scenes of Faust.Other recent orchestral recordings include a Schumann cycle with symphony n°2 and n°4, 'cello concerto with Christophe Coin and piano concerto with Andreas Staier).