Critics consider it one of the most outstanding Baroque ensembles, and stress the exceptional intensity and expressive power of the group's playing.

The ensemble's repertoire covers every era from the early Baroque to modern, and all works are performed on instruments appropriate to the respective period. The focus of the ensemble's work is the music of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The ensemble made its highly successful debut in Innsbruck in 1995 with Alessandro Scarlatti's opera Il Mitridate Eupatore, which they performed again the following year at the Schwetzingen Festival. Since then, the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble has been "ensemble in residence" at the Schwetzingen Festival, which in a co-production with the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden presented Francesco Cavalli's opera La Didone, and with the Innsbruck Festival the modern revival of Giovanni Legrenzi's La divisione del mondo.

The close collaboration with director Achim Freyer has resulted in numerous productions, most recently Joseph Haydn's L'anima del filosofo, under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock.

The Balthasar Neumann Ensemble and Choir work very closely together and will be making guest appearances this year with Haydn's Creation at renowned summer festivals. Since 1998 the South-West German Radio has sponsored a concert series with the Choir and Ensemble. Under the motto "Abenteuer Musik" (The Adventure of Music), they lead the listener on a voyage of discovery through the 17th and 18th centuries. During the 2000/2001 season, works "From the Music Library of J. S. Bach" were performed, which afforded a glance into Bach's occupation with the works of his time.

The ensemble is named after Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753), the most important architect of the German Baroque. His achievements include the residences of Würzburg and Schönbornslust as well as the pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen.