Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR
The SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (in German: Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR) emerged under American military rule after World War II and developed into a major force in contemporary music. The orchestra ceased to exist in 2016 when it was merged into the new SWR Symphony Orchestra.
The SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1945 as the Symphony Orchestra of Radio Stuttgart (Sinfonieorchester von Radio Stuttgart) as the American military government reopened Radio Stuttgart and established a live orchestra for its broadcasts. The radio station soon became South German Radio, or Süddeutsche Rundfunk, and the orchestra was renamed Sinfonieorchester des Süddeutschen Rundfunks. In 1959, the orchestra became the Südfunk-Sinfonieorchester, and in 1975, it took its current name, with SWR standing for Südwestrundfunk, or Southwest Radio. From the beginning, the orchestra attracted top German musicians eager to get back to music-making, and leading conductors and soloists signed on for guest slots, quickly raising the group's profile beyond the region. In 1948, Hans Müller-Kray became the group's first permanent conductor and its only German one; his successors were Sergiu Celibidache (1971 until 1977, who raised the orchestra's international profile), Neville Marriner (1983 until 1989), Gianluigi Gelmetti (1989 until 1998), Roger Norrington (1998 until 2011), and Stéphane Denève (2011 until 2016). In addition to radio broadcasts, the orchestra performed some 80 concerts a year in Stuttgart and around the radio network's coverage area. It performed traditional repertory but soon established itself as a promoter of contemporary music, with a long list of contemporary composers including Pierre Boulez, Hans-Werner Henze, and Krzysztof Penderecki conducting the group in their own works. In 2012, the SWR's governing council approved a proposal to merge the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra into a new SWR Symphonieorchester (SWR Symphony Orchestra). Despite international protests, the merger was implemented, and Norrington conducted the orchestra's final performance at the BBC Proms in 2016.
The SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra had a distinguished recording career that included at least 75 releases covering a wide variety of repertory and winning several major industry awards. Many were recorded for the Hänssler Classic label. The orchestra's catalog of recordings continued to grow after its dissolution as the SWR Music house label reissued some of its classic performances. In 2020, that label issued the orchestra's complete recordings of Beethoven's symphonies, recorded in 2002.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven : Symphonies n°5 & 6
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Roger Norrington
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 15 K450 & Piano Concerto No. 20 K466 (Live at Ludwigsburg Festival, 11/09/1956)
Antoine de Bavier, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on 28 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ricardo Odnoposoff: Joachim, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate and Chausson
Ricardo Odnoposoff, Jiri Starek, Gianfranco Rivoli, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Geneva Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Doron Music on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloe, Valse (La) / BIZET: Symphony in C major
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Georges Prêtre
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Furtwängler: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor (Live)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Werner Egk, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by Archipel on 3 Dec 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart & Dvořák: Works for Violin
Váša Příhoda, Maria Bergmann, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Hans Müller-Kray
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 8 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G Major (Live)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Anu Komsi, Roger Norrington
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 18 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Orchestral Works
Dirk Altmann, Daniel Gauthier, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Heinz Holliger
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 12 May 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphonies 4 & 5
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Roger Norrington
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 7 Aug 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinopoli : Lou Salomé (Suites Nos. 1 & 2)
Lucia Popp, José Carreras, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MAHLER, G.: Symphony No. 2 / HAYDN, J.: Symphony No. 86 (Carl Schuricht Collection, Vol. 17) (1954, 1958)
Hanni Mack-Cosack, Hertha Töpper, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Stuttgart Bach Choir, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Carl Schuricht
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MOZART: Symphony No. 40 / BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Branka Musulin, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 65
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Andrey Boreyko
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 28 Apr 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRUCKNER: Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 (1951 / 1954)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Carl Schuricht
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A-Flat Major, Op. 55
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Roger Norrington
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 19 May 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies (Intégrale)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Roger Norrington
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 4 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3
SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Stéphane Denève
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 5 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER: Orchestra Opera Excerpts / Siegfried Idyll (1950 / 1954 / 1955 / 1966)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Carl Schuricht
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9, WAB 109
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Carlo Maria Giulini
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spohr: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 4
Karl Leister, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Classical - Released by Orfeo on 16 Aug 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Furtwängler conducts Furtwängler & Beethoven
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Hans Müller-Kray, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 6 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo