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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Berlioz, H.: Symphonie Fantastique / Le Carnaval Romain / Benvenuto Cellini: Overture
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Gary Bertini
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy, C.: La Mer / Nocturnes / Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, Gary Bertini
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classical - Released by Profil on 1 Jun 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
BRUCKNER, A.: Symphony No. 4 (Norrington)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Roger Norrington
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weber, Beethoven & Brahms: Orchestral Works (Live)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Geza Anda, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Orfeo on 7 Jul 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Casella: Symphony No. 3, Op. 63 & Italia, Op. 11
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Alun Francis
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloe / POULENC: Les Biches (Les Ballets Russes, Vol. 2)
Europe Choir Academy, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Marcello Viotti, Michael Gielen
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Friedrich Cerha: Orchestral Works
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Emilio Pomarico, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classical - Released by KAIROS on 1 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ries: Die Räuberbraut, Op. 156
Opera - Released by CPO on 8 Nov 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Ein Maskenball
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Fritz Busch, Lorenz Fehenberger, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Opera - Released by The Art Of Singing on 29 Sep 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reznicek: Chamisso-Variationen
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Alexander Vassiliev, Großes Opernorchester Parlophon, Michail Jurowski, Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek
Classical - Released by CPO on 30 Oct 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms & Wagner: Works for Orchestra (Live)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Orfeo on 27 Nov 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cambreling Conducts Berlioz
Jean-Eric Soucy, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Sylvain Cambreling
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orchestral Music: South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra (Norrington) (Best of Stutthgart Sound)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Laura Claycomb, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Roger Norrington, Rundfunkchor Leipzig
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reimann, A.: Cantus / Ollea / Solo for Clarinet / … Ni Una Sombra / Arietta
Jörg Widmann, Mojca Erdmann, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Peter Rundel, Axel Bauni
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Klemperer Live: Cologne Vol. 6 — Concert 27 February 1956 (Historical Recording)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Leon Fleisher, Otto Klemperer
Classical - Released by Archiphon on 6 Oct 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Klemperer Live: Cologne, Vol. 3 — Concert 5 April 1954 (Historical Recordings)
Geza Anda, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Otto Klemperer
Classical - Released by Archiphon on 4 Aug 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich, D.: Suite On Words by Michelangelo / Romances - Opp. 21, 46
Anatoli Kotscherga, Anatolji Babykin, Wladimir Kasatschuk, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Michail Jurowski
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martin, F.: Ballade for Flute and Orchestra / Nielsen, C.: Flute Concerto / Ibert, J.: Flute Concerto / Bernstein, L.: Halil
Michael Faust, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Alun Francis, Serge Baudo
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Elias (Recorded 1962) [Sung in German] [Live]
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Andromeda on 30 Jul 2002
Diapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 4, 7 & 8
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Otto Klemperer
Classical - Released by Andromeda on 14 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo