Gewandhauskapellmeister Franz Konwitschny performed Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos with a small cast of the Gewandhaus Orchestra to great acclaim at the Bachfest Leipzig in 1962.
[2] In 1979, Kurt Masur called Christian Funke from the Dresden Staatskapelle to Leipzig under the promise that he would be able to take over the Bach Orchestra after Bosse.
[citation needed] Although Masur toyed with the idea of dissolving the somewhat outdated Bach Orchestra in favour of other younger chamber ensembles, Funke insisted on the promise.
[3] The now newly formed Bach Orchestra performed for the first time at the Gewandhaus on 16 January 1988 and soon began a successful touring schedule.
When the centrally mediating Künstler-Agentur der DDR [de] ceased its work after the Peaceful Revolution in 1990, Funke was well prepared for this situation by taking over from the Gewandhaus.