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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Weinberg, Dutilleux: Cello Concertos
Edgar Moreau, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Andris Poga
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 sep. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg : Complete Symphonic Works
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Symfonische muziek - Released by audite Musikproduktion on 6 sep. 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stockhausen: Gesang der Jünglinge & Kontakte (Collection trésors, stéréo version)
Karlheinz Stockhausen, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók : Works for Violin & Orchestra
Baiba Skride, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Klassiek - Released by Orfeo on 13 sep. 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff, Strauss, Wagner & Verdi: Works
Klassiek - Released by Profil on 17 apr. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weber : Complete Overtures
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Howard Griffiths
Symfonische muziek - Released by CPO on 4 mrt. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák, Haydn, Mendelssohn & Schumann: Works for Chamber Music
Janos Starker, Claudio Arrau, Rudolf Firkusny, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Rafael Kubelik
Klassiek - Released by Orfeo on 15 sep. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Cello Concerto by János Starker
Janos Starker, Rafael Kubelik, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Klassiek - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 30 dec. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 1. - Webern: Im Sommerwind
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, François-Xavier Roth
Klassiek - Released by SWR Classic on 6 mrt. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Symphonien No. 2 & 3 'Rheinische' (Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. II)
Symfonische muziek - Released by audite Musikproduktion on 18 jul. 2014
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Honegger : Symphonies & Symphonic Movements
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Stéphane Denève
Symfonische muziek - Released by SWR Classic on 25 sep. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Claude Vivier: Orchestral Works
Christian Dierstein, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Peter Rundel
Klassiek - Released by KAIROS on 1 jul. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Edvard Grieg : Complete Symphonic Works, vol. 3
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland
Symfonische muziek - Released by audite Musikproduktion on 5 aug. 2013
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Herbert Schuch: The OehmsClassics Recordings
Herbert Schuch, Mirijam Contzen, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Olari Elts
Klassiek - Released by Oehms Classics on 6 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Erwin Schulhoff: Piano Concerto, Op. 11 & Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Michael Rische, Israel Yinon, Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Gerd Albrecht
Kamermuziek - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on 6 mei 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. VI
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Heinz Holliger
Symfonische muziek - Released by audite Musikproduktion on 8 apr. 2015
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
RIHM, W.: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 / Nachtwach / Vers une symphonie fleuve III / Raumauge (Rihm Edition, Vol. 3)
Klassiek - Released by SWR Classic on 1 okt. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zimmermann: Sinfonie in einem Satz (1. Fassung)
Klassiek - Released by wergo on 3 jun. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinnbild: Strauss Orchestral Songs
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Christoph Eschenbach
Liederen - Released by PentaTone on 17 jun. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107 (Remastered 2022) [Live]
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassiek - Released by Archipel on 2 sep. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Čert a Káča, Op. 112, B. 201
Opera - Released by Orfeo on 1 jan. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo