The Limelight Recording of the Month for February comes from one of Europe’s finest and most prolifically recorded early music ensembles.

The Freiburger Barockorchester proved a palpable hit when they visited Melbourne last year. Grand Tour takes them on a slightly less ambitious journey around Germany, picking up on the French and Italian influences that held sway over some of the less well-known composers of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Clive Paget caught up with the orchestra’s leader, violinist Gottfried von der Goltz, to learn more about some of the minor masters whose music makes up one of the most purely enjoyable and entertaining albums of recent years.

Whose idea was this particular project and what is the album trying to capture?

Well, it’s a kind of historical road trip. The orchestra has a tradition to make a concert series: Freiburg to Stuttgart and Berlin. We thought about making an album going from Freiburg to Stuttgart and all these cities and castles on the way, looking for composers and interesting pieces, and this is the result.

Gottfried von der Goltz

Gottfried von der Goltz. Photo © Volker Renner

To many, the Grand Tour...