In 1986, a group of British historical musicians founded an orchestra, but refrained from hiring a principal music director: they would take charge of running the ensemble themselves. Of course, somebody has to lead the music, and three violinists take this in turns. Although the orchestra, true to its name, officially considers the music of the later 1700s to be its core repertoire, it does not necessarily treat this as an iron-clad rule. At Müpa Budapest's Early Music Festival, for example, they will play several instrumental pieces of remarkable beauty by Bach, the master of Baroque.
