WDR Sinfonieorchester
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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Raymonda, Op. 57: Prélude et la Romanesca
Xavier de Maistre, Nathalie Stutzmann, WDR Sinfonieorchester
Classica - Pubblicato da Sony Classical - Sony Music il 2 set 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Zimmermann: Canto Di Speranza
Thomas Zehetmair, Thomas Demenga, Heinz Holliger, WDR Sinfonieorchester
Classica - Pubblicato da ECM New Series il 14 nov 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maderna: Oboe Concertos Nos. 1-3
Heinz Holliger, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Gary Bertini
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 apr 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hindemith: Cardillac; Mathis der Maler (Excerpts)
WDR Sinfonieorchester, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Joseph Keilberth, Leopold Ludwig
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 1 gen 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Matthias Krüger: Ain't Nuthin' but Fairy Dust
Ensemble ascolta, Ensemble BRuCH, WDR Sinfonieorchester
Classica - Pubblicato da wergo il 26 nov 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Topophony
WDR Sinfonieorchester, Ilan Volkov
Classica - Pubblicato da hat[now]ART il 17 ago 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich : Symphony No. 7
WDR Sinfonieorchester, Rudolph Barshai
Classica - Pubblicato da Brilliant Classics il 8 feb 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Alban Gerhardt, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 28 ago 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schulhoff: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 5; Concerto for String Quartet and Winds, WV 97
Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Kyncl Quartet, Israel Yinon, Gunther Schuller
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 5 apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo