It is an orchestra made up of friends. Most of us have known each other for twenty years. We know each other so well. We are always on tour together. We travel together, suffer together, we’re happy together—we do everything together. And that’s what makes us so special.

Is conducting the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century your main musical activity?

That’s right. For some years now it has taken up the majority of my time.

Do you consider the orchestra to be like an instrument?

Yes, it’s like an organ, like the various stops of an organ.

And what do you think of the use of historical instruments?

Well, one thing helps another. Let me explain: a musician is a musician, a good one, or a not so good one. But if one performs a certain repertory—let’s take Bach as an example—it would be of great help to the style if the instrument which “pertains” to that style is used. And that makes one a better musician. When I conduct the Bach B Minor Mass with a modern orchestra, even though we always give our best possible performance, something is always lost, since the musicians play instruments which weren’t conceived for that music, especially the strings. All the stringed instruments have been modernised, even during the 19th century. They were adapted for the music of later periods. And they are still going through a continuous process of modernisation. The modern American violin school is a good example of the degree to which the situation has gotten out of hand: steel strings, heavy bows. If one plays in a very simple fashion (one or two notes) the result is not very pleasing to the ear. The sound has to be “embellished” by means of vibrato and if one wants to make the music even more beautiful, one has to use even more vibrato.

Going back to your orchestra, do you believe something similar existed during the 18th century? Even during the last twenty years things have changed at such an extraordinary pace.