Tonkünstler-Orchester
The Tonkünstler Orchestra has roots stretching back to the vibrant Viennese culture of the early 20th century and even beyond. The group has recorded extensively and has attracted world-class conductors from beyond Austria and central Europe.
The Tonkünstler Orchestra was founded in Vienna in 1907 with 83 musicians. The group is known in German as the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich or Musical Artists' Orchestra of Lower Austria, and its name pays homage to the Tonkünstler-Sozietät that presented works by Haydn and Mozart in the late 18th century. The group's first concert featured works by Beethoven, Grieg, Liszt, and Karl Goldmark. In 1913, the orchestra gave the premiere performance of Schoenberg's Gürre-Lieder. Its activities contracted during World War I, and it was replaced by a new Wiener Tonkünstler Orchestra in 1933, with Leopold Reichwein as conductor. The group continued to operate through the Nazi era, mostly under the name Gausymphonieorchester Niederdonau and mostly in direct support of the German war effort. The year 1946 brought the name Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester and a new conductor, Kurt Wöss. After a 2002 restructuring, the present name was applied. Major conductors in the 20th century included Gustav Koslik (1951-1964), Heinz Wallberg (1964-1975), Miltiades Caridis (1978-1988, the group's first conductor not from Austria or Germany), and Brazil's Isaac Karabtchevsky (1998-1994, the orchestra's first non-European leader). The orchestra's recording catalog dates back to the LP era; an early digital release was a 2008 recording of Haydn's Die Schöpfung on the TON 4/Zebralution label.
The Tonkünstler Orchestra performs in Vienna at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. It also has a second headquarters in Sankt Pölten in Lower Austria province, where it is state-supported, performing at the Festspielhaus Sankt Pölten. The ensemble serves as orchestra-in-residence at the Grafenegg Festival outside Vienna. Conductors during the 21st century have been an internationally prominent group, including Carlos Kalmar (2000-2003), Kristjan Järvi (2004-2009), Andrés Orozco-Estrada (2009-2014), and Yutaka Sado (2015-2025). In 2025, Fabien Gabel was scheduled to take up the baton. A major recording under Järvi was one of Leonard Bernstein's Mass for the Chandos label in 2009. The Tonkünstler Orchestra has also recorded for the Preiser Records, Oehms Classics, and Wergo labels, among others. In 2024, the group moved to Naxos and released a recording of orchestral works by Franz von Suppé. By that time, the group's recording history included more than 20 albums.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Reich: Three Movements & The Desert Music
Kristjan Järvi, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Chorus sine nomine
Minimalistische muziek - Released by Chandos on 1 jun. 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan"
Yutaka Sado, Tonkünstler-Orchester
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 6 dec. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Suppé: Fantasia symphonica, Orchestral Overtures & Preludes
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Ola Rudner
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 12 jan. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major, WAB 104 "Romantic" (Live)
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 28 okt. 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2, Op. 43 & Finlandia, Op. 26
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 3 mrt. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Bilder einer Ausstellung
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Jun Märkl
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 3 dec. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Was ma heut net träumen (Orchester Version)
Ina Regen, Tonkünstler-Orchester
Pop - Released by Sony Music - NANNERL on 16 feb. 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Glinka, Rimski-Korsakow & Borodin: Orchestral Works
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Kirill Maximov
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 7 mei 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor (Live)
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 27 jan. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor (Live)
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 20 sep. 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40, TrV 190 - Der Rosenkavalier Suite, Op. 59, TrV 227d
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Lieke Te Winkel, Yutaka Sado
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 16 mrt. 2016
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor "Resurrection" (Live)
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Elisabeth Kulman, Daniela Fally, Yutaka Sado, Slowakischer Philharmonischer Chor
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 1 nov. 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 2, Op. 73 & Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 14 mei 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 7 in E Minor (Live)
Yutaka Sado, Tonkünstler-Orchester
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 1 mrt. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Larcher: Symphony for Baritone & Orchestra "Alle Tage" & Violin Concerto (Live)
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Adrian Erod, Benjamin Beilman, Hannu Lintu, Pierre Bleuse
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 4 mrt. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G Major (Live)
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado, Adela Zaharia
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 16 mrt. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie Nr. 9 (arr. Mahler)
Symfonieën - Released by Preiser Records on 1 nov. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 6-8 (Live)
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 30 sep. 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen : Turangalîla-symphonie, I/29 (Live)
Roger Muraro, Valerie Hartmann-Claverie, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado
Symfonieën - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 28 sep. 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, WAB 108 (1890 Version) [Live]
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado
Klassiek - Released by Tonkunstler Orchestra on 1 jan. 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Klassiek - Released by Oehms Classics on 20 apr. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo