Performers/instruments
Erik Bosgraaf – recorder and direction
Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
Jarosław Thiel – artistic direction of Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
About the artists
Erik Bosgraaf
Erik Bosgraaf is generally considered to be one of the world’s leading recorder players, and he is definitely the most adventurous. He improvises, plays jazz, utilises electronics and likes working with people in other areas of artistic endeavour such as cinematography (Werner Herzog, Paul and Menno de Nooijer). His repertoire extends from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to tomorrow’s music. Bosgraaf’s recording of Jacob van Eyck’s Der Fluyten Lust-hof set a new standard and led to his international breakthrough. Many other hits followed, mainly for the Brilliant Classics label. Around 100 pieces have been composed for him, among which are 12 concertos. In 2011, Pierre Boulez gave him permission to adapt his clarinet composition Dialogue de l’ombre double for the recorder. The world premiere of this new version took place in the sold-out main auditorium of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; the CD was recorded in 2015. Arvo Pärt allowed him to perform a concertante recorder version of Fratres, which had its world premiere in the composer’s hometown of Tallinn.
Bosgraaf made his USA debut at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden, who immediately invited him to his other orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, telling him: ‘There you can lead the orchestra yourself’ (which he did, to great acclaim). Since then, he has been regularly invited as a conductor. If not playing the recorder, he leads from the harpsichord or – in classical and later repertoire for chamber orchestra – conducts from the front. Bosgraaf has worked with the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Melbourne Symphony, Dutch Radio Philharmonic, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Duisburger Philharmoniker, and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, among others. In 2021 Concerto Köln accompanied him on his solo debut at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, and in October 2023 he was soloist at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov, performing the Origami Songs that Anna Meredith composed for him.
In the summer of 2023, he made his appearance at the prestigious Boston Early Music Festival and the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, Germany. Bosgraaf is a visiting professor at the Cracow Music Academy (Poland), Amsterdam Conservatoire (Netherlands) and Tsing Hua University (Taiwan), and gives masterclasses all over the world. He received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2009, and the Netherlands Music Prize in 2011.
Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
The resident ensemble of the Witold Lutosławski National Forum of Music, one of few cultural institutions in Poland boasting its own Baroque orchestra playing historical instruments.
During each NFM concert season, WBO presents its own concert series. The repertoire encompasses works from early Baroque to Romanticism, from chamber line-ups to large oratorios. The superb cellist Jarosław Thiel has been Artistic Director of WBO since its inception.
Today, Wrocław Baroque Orchestra counts among the most important Polish ensembles playing historical instruments. The orchestra’s output and high level of performance result in collaborations with the biggest names on the international early music scene. WBO has performed under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe, Giovanni Antonini, Andrew Parrott, Masaaki Suzuki, Ivor Bolton, Martin Haselböck, Paul McCreesh and Laurence Cummings. The orchestra cooperates with excellent ensembles and soloists, and among them Orchester Wiener Akademie, Bach Collegium Japan, Collegium Vocale Gent, Cantus Cölln, RIAS Kammerchor, Gli Angeli Genève, Ian Bostridge, Julia Lezhneva, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Shunske Sato, Vivica Genaux, Andreas Scholl, Aimi Kobayashi, Yulianna Avdeeva, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Giuliano Carmignola, Jakub Józef Orliński, Regula Mühlemann, Bruno de Sá, Renata Pokupić. WBO guest performs at prestigious festivals, participates in TV and radio broadcasts (i.a. Mezzo TV) and recording sessions.
2017 saw the release of a new album – Haydn The Seasons – a result of collaboration with Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort & Players (the disc was nominated for Gramophone Awards in the Best Choral Recording category and was a recording of the month in the BBC Music Magazine in June 2017). 2018 saw the release of the album 17th-century Sacred Music in Wrocław, recorded with Gli Angeli Genève and Concerto Palatino under the direction of Stephan MacLeod (Claves). The album received an International Classical Music Award 2019 in the Baroque Vocal category.
In 2020 an album was published featuring Karol Kurpiński’s Elegy in C minor (premiere recording), Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński’s Symphony No. 2 (first recording on historical instruments) and The Fairy Tale overture by Stanisław Moniuszko, recorded under the direction of Jarosław Thiel. This album was nominated for an International Classical Music Award 2022 and for a Fryderyk Award 2022 in the category Album of the Year – Symphonic Music. In 2022, the albums of Wrocław Baroque Orchestra were released: Johann David Heinichen – Dresden Vespers (world premiere recording for Accent), recorded with the Ensemble Polyharmonique, and Kings in the North recorded with baritone Tomáš Král (nominations for Opus Klassik Awards in several categories). In 2024 the latest album Mille Affetti with male soprano Bruno de Sá was released for label Warner Classic & Erato.
Jarosław Thiel
A cellist and conductor, his artistic activity focuses on the issues of historical performance practices. He has collaborated with the most important Polish ensembles performing Baroque music and with several German ensembles: Dresdner Barockorchester, FestspielOrchester Göttingen, Cantus Cölln, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and Gaechinger Cantoray. Since 2006, he has been Artistic Director of Wrocław Baroque Orchestra – a resident ensemble of the National Forum of Music in Wrocław.
His discography as a cellist includes a number of chamber music recordings, and as a conductor he has led Wrocław Baroque Orchestra in projects realised for the CD Accord, Aparté, and Accent labels. Jarosław Thiel is a professor of historical cello at the Academy of Music in Poznań. He also conducts masterclasses, educational concerts and lectures on the historically informed performance of early music.
