Amsterdam 1850 is centered around two identical and original flutes from the 19th century made by C.G. Geisler.

Most Geisler instruments are in Museums such as the Rijksmuseum but these two are privately owned and played by Florencia Gómez and her Geisler Ensemble. You will hear the sound of the late 19th Century including compositions that were played at that time in the rich Amsterdam salons on original instruments, including a square piano that was made in Amsterdam at that time.

Music making in the late 19th century was done at a very high level. The description of the J.P. Coenen Quintet that is on the album describes it best: “The flourishing atmosphere of music making in the region and the variety of instruments that could have been heard in Amsterdam in his day have opened our imagination to a whole world of possible sounds. There is so much needed when performing this repertoire on original instruments: flexibility, pitch-bending and control, the ability to shine in a solo, or to blend when playing in a unison… In this period all woodwind instruments were seeing such a speedy evolution that it is highly likely that the challenges we were confronted with represent those experienced by musicians at that time. Original instruments are extremely capricious and fragile, so finding each other in this chamber music work is an experience of deep friendship, hard work, patience, and joy in the results.”

The Geisler Ensemble is an international ensemble of wind players that has its main focus in the historically informed performance of music from the 18th and 19th Centuries. Each musician plays on original instruments or copies of original instruments, and the ensemble strives to find a fresh sound in old repertoire and in discovering new works to share with its audiences. Coming from diverse parts of the world, these musicians met during their years of study at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, and they share, alongside a deep friendship, years of collaboration as members of other ensembles and in a variety of projects.