Arcangelo

British early music ensemble Arcangelo is something of an all-star group comprising members, Continental as well as British, who already have strong solo careers. Arcangelo has distinguished itself through its devotion to a chamber music ideal marked by collaboration rather than by an individual's overriding personal vision. The membership varies according to what music is being played, having ranged from four to as many as 50 musicians and singers.

Arcangelo was founded by cellist and conductor Jonathan Cohen in 2010. Its musical flexibility has suited it especially well to festival appearances, and it has appeared at top British, Continental, and American festivals including the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Salzburg Festival. It has often collaborated with cutting-edge vocal and instrumental soloists, and its 2015 Lachriminae tour with soprano Anna Prohaska was a critical standout. Austria's Kurier newspaper raved that "with the angelic support of the ensemble Arcangelo, the ravishing soprano Anna Prohaska was able to musically represent the suffering of weeping as you would otherwise hardly imagine." In the 2016-2017 season Arcangelo held a residency at London's Wigmore Hall, becoming the first Baroque ensemble to do so.

Arcangelo's recordings and performances have mostly presented music from the Baroque and Classical periods. Unusually for a Baroque ensemble, it has recorded for Warner Classics, releasing an album of Mozart violin concertos with Vilde Frang in 2015. Arcangelo has also recorded for Hyperion, Berlin Classics, the revived Archiv label, and Alpha Classics. Three Bach Magnificats, the group's recording of Magnificats by J.S. Bach and two of his sons, appeared in 2018. Allmusic