Germany's oldest chamber orchestra, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, applies insights from the historical-performance movement to readings of Baroque and Classical-era music on modern instruments. The orchestra's founding conductor was Hermann Abendroth, and the orchestra, over its long existence, has had only five principal conductors: Abendroth, Erich Kraack, Helmut Müller-Brühl, Christian Ludwig, and, since 2013, Christoph Poppen. Between 1976 and 1986, the orchestra performed as the Capella Clementina on historical instruments. It reverted to modern instruments in 1987, but Müller-Brühl continued to apply historical-performance principles in his conducting. The following year, he inaugurated the series Das Meisterwerk, with concerts held at the new Cologne Philharmonie. In 2000, the orchestra began a complete recording of Bach's orchestral music, and it has also recorded a series of symphonies by Haydn and Beethoven. In 2021, Poppen resumed the orchestra's recording program with an album featuring Mozart Masses.