Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, often styled in Germany as the hr_Sinfonieorchester (Hessischer Rundfunk [i.e., Hessian Radio] Symphony Orchestra), has a long history on radio in southwestern Germany and has, since the 1960s, ascended to international prominence.
Orchestral music on Frankfurt Radio dates back to the 1920s, and a Frankfurter Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester was founded in 1929 by conductor Hans Rosbaud. The group's association with the regional Hessian Radio network began in 1950. Conductors after World War II shaped the orchestra into an ensemble that covered mainstream Classical-Romantic repertory and also performed contemporary music on occasion.
All the orchestra's conductors since 1961 have been non-German. Key figures in the group's ascent to international prominence were African-American conductor Dean Dixon, principal conductor from 1961 to 1974, and Israeli Eliahu Inbal, who held the baton from 1974 to 1990. During that period the orchestra was the first to record the original versions of several of Anton Bruckner's symphonies. Dmitri Kitayenko (1990-1996) steered the orchestra toward German and Russian mainstream repertory, while American Hugh Wolff (1997-2006) introduced influences from the historical performance movement. Paavo Järvi was chief conductor from 2006 to 2013, and since 2014 the post has been held by Colombia's Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
Many of the orchestra's recordings have been made for the audiophile labels Teldec, Denon, ECM, and Wergo. In the mid-2010s the group recorded for RCA, and Järvi rejoined the orchestra in 2018 for recordings on Naïve of music by Brahms and Bach arranged by Schoenberg and Webern, and by Hindemith. The hr_Sinfonieorchester performs concerts at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt as well as originating regular broadcasts from the hr Sendesaal studio.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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The Thief of Bagdad (Reconstructed Silent Film Score) [Live]
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mark Fitz-Gerald
Symphonic Music - Released by First Hand Records on 4 Mar 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3
Eliahu Inbal, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 2 - Konzertmusik
Siegfried Mauser, Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Werner Andreas Albert
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Jul 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Morton Feldman: Violin And Orchestra
Carolin Widmann, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Emilio Pomarico
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 30 Apr 2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 23 & Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Major, K. 283
Philippe Entremont, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jean Entremont
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 9 Apr 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphonies No. 4 & 7
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
W.A. Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 21 in C Major, K. 467; Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K. 595
Lars Vogt, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin on 2 Sep 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Space Table Symphony (Le Shuuk Remix)
Breiter Bernd, David Garrett, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Le Shuuk
Classical - Released by BigCityBeats Recordings on 10 Jun 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Paavo Järvi, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Sony Music Labels Inc. on 20 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lortzing: Zar und Zimmermann
Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Carl-Alexander Häfner, Sanders Schier
Opera - Released by The Art Of Singing on 4 Mar 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à Horațiu Rădulescu: Complete Works for Piano
Ortwin Sturmer, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lothar Zagrosek
Classical - Released by NEOS Music on 2 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 30
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Constantin Trinks
Classical - Released by Profil on 27 Jan 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Now Your Colors Sing
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Innova on 22 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Cello Concerto, Op. 58 - Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 107
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Steven Isserlis, Paavo Järvi
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 2 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christian Ofenbauer: 2 Frankfurter Préludes (Live)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Tamayo
Classical - Released by NEOS Music on 23 Aug 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benjamin Symphonie 2
Lini Gong, Kinderchor der Oper Frankfurt, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Peter Ruzicka
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on 22 Dec 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prelude (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live]
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mark Fitz-Gerald
Symphonic Music - Released by First Hand Records on 4 Feb 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Symphony No. 4 & Overture to Genoveva (Mono Version)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Otto Ackermann
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 2
Paavo Järvi, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Sony Music Labels Inc. on 21 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral" (Live)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Archipel on 14 May 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3
Paavo Järvi, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Sony Music Labels Inc. on 12 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo