Il Cuore Barocco is an early music ensemble dedicated to the performance of Baroque and Classical music on period instruments. Founded in 2010 by cellist and then artistic director Tomáš Kardoš, the ensemble’s members are active musicians who regularly pursue specialized training in historical performance practice. The position of artistic director is currently held by violinist Petr Zelenka.
The ensemble has performed extensively across Slovakia, particularly at festivals such as Banskobystrické hudobné dni, Letná Pauza, Trnavská hudobná jar, Trnavská hudobná jeseň, Nitrianska hudobná jeseň, Ars Organi Nitra, and Bratislavské korunovačné slávnosti. International appearances include the Internationales H.I.F. Biber Festival in Vienna (2017), the Bach for All festival in Prague (2018), and the Olomoucké barokní slavnosti in Olomouc (2021).
Il Cuore Barocco has collaborated on the dance project Off Beat Live with dancer Milan Tomášik at the Slovak National Theatre, and since 2013 regularly organizes a series of concerts in eastern Slovakia (Spišská Nová Ves, Košice, Levoča, Žehra). The ensemble works frequently with a wide range of domestic and international instrumentalists and vocalists.
Within the Slovak Philharmonic – Early Music series, the ensemble has performed Christmas Masses by Joseph Umstatt and P. Petrus Peťko (2015) and a concert featuring works by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (2018). The ensemble also presented an Easter project, Antonio Caldara’s oratorio Magdalena at the Feet of Christ (2019), and later a concert of works by G. Ph. Telemann and G. F. Handel (2024). The ensemble’s repertoire also includes forgotten works by composers who lived in what is today Slovakia.