WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
The WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, or West German Radio Symphony Orchestra of Cologne, is one of Germany's leading symphony orchestras. The group plays the music of various periods but has specialized in contemporary music, a specialty made possible by the fact that the WDR network also maintains another orchestra, the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln, that performs lighter music and pops material.
The broadcast of orchestral music on the radio in Cologne dates back almost to the foundation of the Richessender Köln radio station in 1927. After World War II, Allied administrators announced the breakup of the central broadcasting of the Nazi era in favor of a system of regional broadcasters that persists today. The Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester was established to serve the new Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (Northwest German Radio), in 1947; the name was changed to WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln in the 1990s. In the beginning, the group hosted only guest conductors, but since 1964, when Christoph von Dohnányi was named principal conductor, the orchestra has reliably spawned international conducting careers. Recent principal conductors have included Hans Vonk (1991-1997), Semyon Bychkov (1997-2010), Jukka-Pekka Saraste (2010-2019), and, since 2019, Cristian Macelaru. Guest conductors have included international greats: Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, and Zubin Mehta, among others. The orchestra's contemporary music specialty dates back many years and has included premieres of works by Luciano Berio, Hans Werner Henze, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. This tendency, along with the WDR's maintenance of its own electronic music studio directed for many years by Stockhausen, helped to establish Cologne as a center for contemporary music. The orchestra performs at the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie.
The WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln has recorded for both German and international labels. In 1989, under frequent guest conductor Günter Wand, the orchestra released recordings of Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 ("The Great"), and Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 on RCA Red Seal. The orchestra has also recorded for Wergo, Audite, CPO, and many others. Although quite prolific, with more than 80 recordings to its credit as of the early 2020s, the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln has not been strongly associated with any single imprint. In 2020, the group released its first two albums on Sony Classical, Beethoven's World, and a release devoted to the violin concertos of Franz Joseph Clement, with violinist Mirijam Contzen and conductor Reinhard Goebel.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Violin Recital: Works of Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz & Others
Aaron Rosand, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, SWR Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks, Rolf Reinhardt, Tibor Szóke
Classique - Paru chez Vox Box le 1 janv. 1995
9 de RépertoireDiapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRUCKNER: Mass in E minor / Motets (Creed)
SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Tobias Unger, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Marcus Creed, Florian Metzger, Harald Matjacic
Classique - Paru chez SWR Classic le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Cello Concerto by János Starker
Janos Starker, Rafael Kubelik, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Classique - Paru chez Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording le 30 déc. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Successful Beginning
Martha Argerich, Ruggiero Ricci, Sudwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Ernest Bour, Peter Maag
Classique - Paru chez Profil le 17 août 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart : Symphonies n°1, 25 & 41 (Vol. 1)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Roger Norrington
Classique - Paru chez SWR Classic le 1 janv. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lehár: Wiener Frauen
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Curt Cremer, Unknown Artist
Opéra - Paru chez CPO le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Requiem, Apparitions, San Francisco Polyphony
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Peter Eötvös
Classique - Paru chez BMC Records le 17 août 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berg & Beethoven : Violin Concertos
Arabella Steinbacher, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Andris Nelsons
Concertos pour violon - Paru chez Orfeo le 23 mai 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eötvös conducts Stockhausen - Gruppen, Punkte
Peter Eötvös, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Classique - Paru chez BMC Records le 6 mars 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. V
Camilla Tilling, Tom Erik Lie, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Classique - Paru chez audite Musikproduktion le 6 nov. 2015
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6, Opp. 67 & 68
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Marek Janowski
Classique - Paru chez PentaTone le 8 nov. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martha Argerich Live, Vol. 3
Martha Argerich, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Karl Melles
Classique - Paru chez DOREMI le 13 janv. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classics on the Move
Classique - Paru chez Profil le 15 juin 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Beethoven & Others: Piano Works
Martha Argerich, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Peter Maag
Classique - Paru chez Artemisia le 21 janv. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn, J.: The 12 London Symphonies
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Roger Norrington
Classique - Paru chez SWR Classic le 13 oct. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler, G.: Song of a Wayfarer / Kindertotenlieder / Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Thomas Quasthoff, Hakan Hagegard, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Gary Bertini
Musique vocale (profane et sacrée) - Paru chez CapriccioNR le 1 janv. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies
Marek Janowski, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Symphonies - Paru chez PENTATONE le 2 oct. 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. I
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Musique symphonique - Paru chez audite Musikproduktion le 16 mars 2012
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel, M.: Daphnis Et Chloe Suite No. 2 / Piano Concerto / La Valse
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Martha Argerich, Gary Bertini
Classique - Paru chez CapriccioNR le 1 janv. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Abrahamsen : Zählen und erzählen
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Jonathan Stockhammer
Classique - Paru chez Winter & Winter le 30 janv. 2015
Diapason d'or24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. IV
Herbert Schuch, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Musique symphonique - Paru chez audite Musikproduktion le 19 sept. 2014
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo