Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai
The RAI National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Italian: Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI) dates back to Italy's early experiments with national radio broadcasting. Under its current name, it has attracted some of the world's top conductors as guests.
National radio broadcasting in Italy began to grow along with that in other countries after World War I, and the voice of opera singer Maria Luisa Boncompagni was heard in a Unione Radiofonica Italiana broadcast from Rome in 1924. Branches were established in other cities, including Turin (1929), where the Fascist government radio administrator EIAR (Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche or "Italian Body for Radio Audio") acquired a disused theater, renovated it as a broadcast house, and established a symphony orchestra. After Italy's defeat in World War II, the EIAR was reorganized into the RAI (Radio Audizioni Italia). The RAI branches in other Italian cities, including Rome, Milan, and Naples, established orchestras of their own, but the RAI Orchestra Turin had a particularly high profile internationally, with such major figures as Herbert von Karajan, Igor Stravinsky, Leopold Stokowski, and Wolfgang Sawallisch making guest appearances there. At home in Italy, the RAI Orchestra Turin proved an important spawning ground for young conductors, with such future stars as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, and Riccardo Chailly appearing there early in their careers.
In 1994, the four RAI orchestras were merged into a single entity called the RAI National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Italian: Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI). The group was headquartered in Turin, and it continued to hold a high profile beyond Italy, touring 14 French and German cities and traveling to Japan and to the Canary Islands in its first two years of existence. The orchestra's principal conductors have included Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (2001-2007), Juraj Valčuha (2009-2016), James Conlon (2016-2020), and, as of October 2023, Andrés Orozco-Estrada. The orchestra has recorded for the Stradivarius, Warner Music, and Deutsche Grammophon labels. In 2023, the RAI National Radio Symphony Orchestra released a recording of Respighi's Roman Trilogy on the Ondine label, with Robert Treviño conducting. Older recordings by the RAI Symphony Torino continued to appear in specialist reissues.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Discography
4 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra k271 "Jeunhomme"
Andrea Bacchetti, Min Chung, Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai
Classical - Released by Can Can Music Publishing on 1 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Airs et duos de Rigoletto (Mono Version)
Lina Pagliughi, Alexander Sved, Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai, Alfredo Simonetto
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
HERBERT VON KARAJAN live in ITALY
Classical - Released by Artemisia on 26 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lortzing: Undine
Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI, Robert Heger, Josef Traxel, Valerie Bak
Opera - Released by The Art Of Singing on 21 May 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo