Ensemble Diderot

Director: Johannes Pramsohler

https://www.ensemblediderot.com

Praised for its ‘warm tonal brilliance and razor-sharp definition’ by Gramophone Magazine, Ensemble Diderot is now one of the foremost European chamber music groups performing exclusively on period instruments. The French music magazine Classica qualified them as ‘splendidly prepared to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Musica Antiqua Köln.’

Based in Paris and taking its name from French philosopher Denis Diderot, the ensemble’s core consists of four musicians around violinist and director/founder Johannes Pramsohler. Whilst it always takes chamber music as the starting point, Ensemble Diderot also appears in orchestral formation and has since 2018 had its own chorus. From the exploration of Baroque chamber music and an inexhaustible heritage of trio sonatas, quartets and larger ensemble sonatas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, right through to staged opera performances - a busy schedule and like-minded performers have given the group a cohesion akin to that of a permanent string quartet.

Ensemble Diderot - Goldberg & W.F. Bach: Trio Sonatas [ALBUM TRAILER]

The ensemble has been an acclaimed guest on stages and media platforms around the world including Kölner Philharmonie and Vienna Konzerthaus. Upcoming appearances include performances at Berliner Philharmonie, Opéra de Lille, The Hague, Opéra de Rouen, Auditorium di Milano Fondazione Cariplo: Largo Gustav Mahler, Kölner Philharmonie and tours through Austria, Germany, Italy and France of its recent recording projects Sonate a quattro, Bach: A Musical Offering and Zelenka: Lamentations. Prior larger scale performances have included repertoire such as Handel: Concerti Grossi Op.6, Bach cantatas, and operas such as Purcell Dido and Aeneas, Falstaff by Antonio Salieri, Croesus by Reinhard Keiser, and the oratorio Athalia by George Frideric Handel. Of their 2024 production of Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Forum Opera wrote ‘Johannes Pramsohler leads everyone with great precision’ and of the ensemble ‘We have admired the beautiful sounds of the strings of his ensemble’. Ensemble Diderot’s London performance home will be the Wigmore Hall from 26/27.

The ensemble’s highly regarded recordings for Audax, many of which are world premieres, have been referred to as ‘standard-setting,’ and have been awarded international prizes including the Diapason d’Or, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, International Classical Music Award (ICMA), Gramophone Editor’s Choice, BBC Music Magazine Choice, and CD of the Month (Record Geijutsu, Japan). Most recently, Sonate a quattro, won Baroque Album of the Year at the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) 2024 and their latest album, Berlin Harpsichord Concertos, was awarded a double 5-star rating by BBC Music Magazine (“an absorbingly interesting album, stylishly played and with a lively feeling for subtle nuance”) and a ‘Recommended Recording’ from MusicWeb International.

Ensemble Diderot - Sonate a quattro [ALBUM TRAILER]

C. H. Graun - Harpsichord Concerto in D Major, III. Vivace | Grisvard, Ensemble Diderot, Pramsohler

Upcoming recordings and touring programmes for Ensemble Diderot include Arias for Bass by Handel, Vivaldi, Monteverdi with Nahuel Di Pierro (release date Winter 2024), Arias by Mozart and contemporaries with soprano Adriana González (recorded May 2024 for release early 2025) and Telemann Complete Quintets (recording winter 2024/2025 for release 2025).

‘performances that squeeze every last morsel of rhythmic or melodic variety out of their formulaic phrases, while the authentically first-rate really sparkle with imaginative life’
(The Guardian on Ensemble Diderot’s The London Album and The Paris Album)

Ensemble Diderot is currently resident at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles in Paris and at the Euregio Kulturzentrum Toblach, Italy in the beautiful South Tyrol area - the subject of a recent ‘Musical Destinations’ feature in BBC Music Magazine. Ensemble Diderot receives funding from the French Ministry of Culture.

For further projects and for print, please download Ensemble Diderot’s full biography.