Valencia Baryton Project

The Valencia Baryton Project was formed by colleagues from the opera of the Palaude les Arts (Valencia) and the Orchestre Nationale de Montpellier with the vision of performing the nearly 160 works written by Franz Joseph Haydn for the baryton as well as compositions by other composers, both modern and classical. At the heart of the ensemble is the traditional baryton trio – baryton, viola, and violoncello – for which Haydn wrote 123 works of outstanding beauty during his time as the court composer for the Prince Esterhazy of Austria.

With Matthew Baker, one of only a handful baryton performers in the world, the Valencia Baryton Project have delighted audiences in sold-out concerts throughout the USA, Central and South America as well as Europe with what is considered to have been the pinnacle of aristocratic instruments of the classical era. Their work has been described as ‘delightfully inventive” (The Strad) and featuring an ‘exquisite chamber music playing’ (Ritmo). In October of 2021, the trio was featured as the front cover article in Spain’s leading classical magazine, Ritmo, and they’ve also been in publications and programs such as Berklee Now (USA), Südwest Presse (Germany) Radio Nacional de España, BBC 3 (UK), WDR 3 (Germany), RTE (Ireland), and Arizona Public Radio (USA) amongst many others.

In 2021, the Valencia Baryton Project released Naxos Records’ first ever baryton CD, launching a new series for the label. Their debut release has been described as “a superb recording” (All Music, USA), “you can’t get enough of it” (Die Welt, Germany), “a discovery for curious ears” (OnlineMerker, Switzerland), and “highly recommended” (Stretto, Belgium). It was included on All Music’s Favorite Classical Albums of 2021, nominated for Best Classical CD at the 2021 Carles Santos Awards and also appeared in Gramophone’s top 20 Classical charts in the UK.

Individually, the members of the Valencia Baryton Project have performed in chamber ensembles such as the Quarteto Radamés Gnattali, Elan Quintet, Gogmagogs and Trio Vanguardia and with orchestras such as the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and BBC Philharmonic amongst others. Beyond classical music, they have also worked with leading artists such as Gilberto Gil, Bob Mintzer, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Caetano Veloso.

Beyond their work with Haydn and his contemporaries such as Lidl, Tomasini and Burgksteiner, the Valencia Baryton Project is committed to the creation of new works for this forgotten instrument and has worked with Canadian composer Steve Zink, British composers Ivan Moody and John Pickup, and Argentinian composer Julian Calarco to expand the repertoire and incorporate this new soundscape to modern composition. They have also enjyed working with guest artists such as violinist Carrie Krause (USA), theorbist Chris Hirst (UK), fellow barytonist Jeremy Brooker (UK), and soprano Paloma Friedhoff (Spain) amongst a number of others.

“One can maximize the minimal without driving out the elegance, the dance-like, the intimacy and the immediacy, for which there is no better instrument than the baryton. Which in turn is perfectly demonstrated by the Valencia Baryton Project. … Apparently small music can be this big. You can’t get enough of it.” – (Elmer Krekeler), Die Welt

“The first thing that impresses the listener from the first track is the clean, curated and precise sound as well as the great and serene beauty and galante character the the Valencia Baryton Project instantly transmits… The performance of each player is impeccable, not only at an individual level but also together. They realize an exquisite effort of chamber music playing without searching for individual bravura, and execute their work as a compact, precise and balanced trio. We can appreciate the high level of blending from the exact placement of each note to the utilization of and identical amount of bow and articulation, as well as the rubatos and the grading of the formidable crescendos. The excellent selection of tempos must also be commented on as the fastest tempos still allow us to hear the transparent and natural sound of every 16^th note.

At an individual level the trio is undoubtedly led by the barytonist Matthew Baker, who knows how to play the beautiful melodies of Haydn for this instrument with great quality and sound. He doesn’t lack for the development of the most virtuosic passages, both on the front and the back strings…. We cannot recommend with any more fervency this wonderful recording.” – Ritmo