Münchner Philharmoniker
The Münchner Philharmoniker (Munich Philharmonic) is an orchestra with a troubled past but a bright future. Tainted by its association with Nazism during World War II, the orchestra was led in the early 1980s by the notoriously mercurial Sergiu Celibidache. Although it had roots stretching back to the beginning of the 19th century, the Munich Philharmonic really began in 1893 with establishment of the Kaim Orchestra, founded by a private donor of that name. During World War I, the orchestra foundered, and after the war it was taken over by Munich's city government and given the Münchner Philharmoniker name. Under conductor Hans Pfitzner in the 1920s the orchestra improved, but in the 1930s it began using a swastika logo and billed itself as the orchestra of fascism. Once again, the group had to rebuild after World War II, with Rudolf Kempe among the conductors who raised it to international stature. A key event in the orchestra's history was the elevation of Sergiu Celibidache to the music directorship in 1979; his leadership had both positive (his interpretations were novel and rigorously rehearsed) and negative impacts (he became embroiled in an expensive and ultimately successful sex discrimination lawsuit filed by American trombonist Abbie Conant, who had won her place in a blind audition). Celibidache also declined to make recordings, believing the concert experience could not be duplicated. That situation changed slowly in the 21st century with prominent new music directors after Celibidache's death. These have included James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, and, since 2014, Valery Gergiev, who has recorded several albums and used the orchestra as a showcase for his instrumental-music thinking in large late Romantic works, including the symphonies of Mahler. Gergiev and the orchestra have embarked on a cycle of Anton Bruckner's symphonies; their recording of the Symphony No. 1 in C minor appeared in 2018 on the orchestra's own label. Since 1985, the orchestra's home has been Munich's handsome Gasteig Culture Center.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 14 Sep 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Philipp Maintz: Orchestra Works, Vol. 1
Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Marisol Montalvo, Christoph Eschenbach, Münchner Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by NEOS Music on 7 Sep 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder: 4. Schmerzen
Anja Harteros, Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 9 Jul 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral"
Rudolf Kempe, Münchner Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Sung in German)
Opera - Released by Orfeo on 1 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Symphonies of Wind Instruments - Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 30 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Meistersinger; Tannhäuser; Tristan und Isolde; Parsifal (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Orchestral Edition: Volume 14)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 30 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder: 5. Im Zimmer
Anja Harteros, Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 23 Jul 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 - Schubert: Symphony No. 5 (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Günter Wand
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 30 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 2 (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 19 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Celibidache Conducts Ravel
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 14 Sep 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss & Brahms: Orchestral Works
Münchner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 10 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37
Rudolf Buchbinder, Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 3 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pfitzner: Piano Concerto in E-Flat Major, Op. 31
Volker Banfield, Münchner Philharmoniker, Werner Andreas Albert
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ristorante Allegro: Lustiges Musical für Kinder mit Orchester (Live-Audio-Mitschnitt)
Children - Released by Sternschnuppe Kinderlieder on 22 Feb 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 30 Nov 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, James Levine
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 30 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite, Romeo and Juliet (Excerpts) [Live]
Münchner Philharmoniker, Sergiù Celibidache
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 30 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Messa da Requiem (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 31 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphony No. 9, "Great"
Münchner Philharmoniker, Christian Thielemann
Classical - Released by MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR on 30 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo