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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Vox Box am 01.01.1995
9 de RépertoireDiapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Cello Concerto by János Starker
Janos Starker, Rafael Kubelik, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Klassik - Erschienen bei Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording am 30.12.2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
BRUCKNER: Mass in E minor / Motets (Creed)
SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Tobias Unger, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Marcus Creed, Florian Metzger, Harald Matjacic
Klassik - Erschienen bei SWR Classic am 01.01.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Successful Beginning
Martha Argerich, Ruggiero Ricci, Sudwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Ernest Bour, Peter Maag
Klassik - Erschienen bei Profil am 17.08.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart : Symphonies n°1, 25 & 41 (Vol. 1)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Roger Norrington
Klassik - Erschienen bei SWR Classic am 01.01.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lehár: Wiener Frauen
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Curt Cremer, Unknown Artist
Oper - Erschienen bei CPO am 01.01.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Requiem, Apparitions, San Francisco Polyphony
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Peter Eötvös
Klassik - Erschienen bei BMC Records am 17.08.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berg & Beethoven : Violin Concertos
Arabella Steinbacher, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Andris Nelsons
Violinkonzerte - Erschienen bei Orfeo am 23.05.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eötvös conducts Stockhausen - Gruppen, Punkte
Peter Eötvös, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Klassik - Erschienen bei BMC Records am 06.03.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. V
Camilla Tilling, Tom Erik Lie, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Klassik - Erschienen bei audite Musikproduktion am 06.11.2015
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6, Opp. 67 & 68
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Marek Janowski
Klassik - Erschienen bei PentaTone am 08.11.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martha Argerich Live, Vol. 3
Martha Argerich, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Karl Melles
Klassik - Erschienen bei DOREMI am 13.01.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classics on the Move
Klassik - Erschienen bei Profil am 15.06.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Beethoven & Others: Piano Works
Martha Argerich, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Peter Maag
Klassik - Erschienen bei Artemisia am 21.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn, J.: The 12 London Symphonies
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Roger Norrington
Klassik - Erschienen bei SWR Classic am 01.01.2009
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
Vokalmusik (weltlich und geistlich) - Erschienen bei CapriccioNR am 01.01.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies
Marek Janowski, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Pentatone am 02.10.2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. I
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei audite Musikproduktion am 16.03.2012
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei CapriccioNR am 01.01.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Abrahamsen : Zählen und erzählen
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Jonathan Stockhammer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Winter & Winter am 30.01.2015
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. IV
Herbert Schuch, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei audite Musikproduktion am 19.09.2014
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo