The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Danish: ''DR Symfoniorkestret''; English abbreviation "DNSO"), is a Danish orchestra based in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. The DNSO is the principal orchestra of
DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). The DRSO is based at the
Koncerthuset
DR Koncerthuset (; previously Copenhagen Concert Hall in English) by Jean Nouvel is a part of the new DR Byen (DR Town), that houses the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, DR. The concert hall and the DR Town are located in the northern part of Øre ...
(lit. translation in english, ''The Concert House'') concert hall in Copenhagen.
History
The roots of the orchestra date back to the singer Emil Holm, who expressed a wish to establish a full-time symphony orchestra in Denmark. In collaboration with fellow musicians Otto Fessel, Rudolf Dietz Mann and Folmer Jensen, the orchestra was founded in 1925, with 11 players in the ensemble and conductor
Launy Grøndahl having a leadership role, though without a formal title. The orchestra grew to 30 players within a year. The orchestra performed its first public concert in 1927, and began to give weekly concerts in 1928. In 1930, Holm recruited
Nikolai Malko
Nicolai Andreyevich Malko (russian: Никола́й Андре́евич Малько́, ua, Микола Андрійович Малько; 4 May 188323 June 1961) was a Russian-born American symphonic conductor.
Biography
Malko was born in ...
to a similar key role like Grøndahl as conductor with the orchestra, though again without Malko having a formal title. Early concerts were at the Axelborg building. In 1931, the orchestra began to give concerts at the ''Stærekassen'' hall of the
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...
. After going into exile from Germany in the 1930s,
Fritz Busch
Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor.
Busch was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to a musical family, and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior p ...
worked extensively as a major conductor of the orchestra in parallel with Malko, though again with no formal title. By 1948, the orchestra had attained membership of 92 musicians.
The first conductor to have the formal title of principal conductor with the orchestra was
Herbert Blomstedt
Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor.
Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Roy ...
, from 1967 to 1977. His recording work with the orchestra included recordings of the orchestral works of
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer.
Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he ...
. Blomstedt now has the title of ''æresdirigent'' (honorary conductor) with the DNSO. The second principal conductor, after an interregnum of 9 years, was
Lamberto Gardelli
Lamberto Gardelli (8 November 191517 July 1998) was a Swedish conductor of Italian birth,Lamberto Gardelli. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory, e ...
, from 1986 to 1988.
Thomas Dausgaard
Thomas Dausgaard (; born 4 July 1963 in Copenhagen) is a Danish conductor.
Biography
Dausgaard studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and with Norman Del Mar at the Royal College of Music in London. He subsequently partici ...
, who was the DNSO's principal guest conductor from 2001 to 2004, became principal conductor of the DNSO in 2004, the first Danish conductor to hold the title. In October 2009, Dausgaard chose to conclude his principal conductorship of the DNSO at the close of the 2010–2011 season and to take the title of ''æresdirigent''. Past principal guest conductors of the DRSO, besides Dausgaard, have included
Yuri Temirkanov
Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov (russian: Ю́рий Хату́евич Темирка́нов; kbd, Темыркъан Хьэту и къуэ Юрий; born December 10, 1938) is a Russian conductor of Circassian ( Kabardian) origin.
Early life
...
,
Michael Schønwandt
Michael Schønwandt (born 10 September 1953 in Frederiksberg) is a Danish conductor. In Denmark, he studied piano, theory, and composition, and later continued musical studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Biography
In 1979, Schønwand ...
, and
Dmitri Kitaenko
Dmitri Georgievich Kitayenko (also spelled Dmitrij Kitajenko) (born 18 August 1940) is a Soviet and Russian conductor. He was bestowed the title People's Artist of the USSR (1984).
He was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union and studied at the Glink ...
.
In 2010, the orchestra appointed
Søren Nils Eichberg as its first-ever composer-in-residence. The orchestra has performed compositions by Eichberg such as the premiere of his Symphony No 3.
In February 2011, the DNSO announced the appointment
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in Burgos, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military serv ...
as principal conductor, effective with the 2012–2013 season, with an initial contract of three years through 2015. On 4 June 2014, Frühbeck de Burgos resigned as chief conductor of the orchestra, with immediate effect, in parallel with his retirement from conducting, because of health problems. In August 2014, the orchestra appointed
Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
B ...
as its next principal conductor, effective in 2017, with an initial contract through 2020. In May 2018, the orchestra announced the extension of Luisi's contract through 2023. In August 2020, the orchestra announced a further extension of Luisi's contract through 2026.
The orchestra has recorded commercially for such labels as DaCapo and Chandos, including music of Danish composers such as
August Enna,
Niels Gade
Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day.
Biography
Gade was born ...
,
Rued Langgaard
Rued Langgaard (; born Rud Immanuel Langgaard; 28 July 1893 – 10 July 1952) was a late-Romantic Danish composer and organist. His then-unconventional music was at odds with that of his Danish contemporaries but was recognized 16 years afte ...
, and
Per Nørgård
Per Nørgård (; born 13 July 1932) is a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style has varied considerably throughout his career, his music has often included repeatedly evolving melodies—such as the infinity series—in the vein o ...
. The orchestra has also commercially recorded such composers as
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
.
Principal conductors
*
Herbert Blomstedt
Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor.
Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Roy ...
(1967–1977)
*
Lamberto Gardelli
Lamberto Gardelli (8 November 191517 July 1998) was a Swedish conductor of Italian birth,Lamberto Gardelli. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory, e ...
(1986–1988)
*
Leif Segerstam
Leif Selim Segerstam ( , ; born 2 March 1944) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for writing 350 symphonies as of August 2022, along with other works in his extensive oeuvre.
Segerstam has condu ...
(1988–1995)
*
Ulf Schirmer
Ulf Schirmer (born 1959) is a German conductor and opera house administrator.
Born in Eschenhausen, Lower Saxony, Schirmer studied at the Bremen Conservatory, and also at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, with György Ligeti, Christ ...
(1995–1998)
*
Gerd Albrecht
Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German conductor.
Biography
Albrecht was born in Essen, the son of the musicologist Hans Albrecht (1902–1961). He studied music in Kiel and in Hamburg, where his teachers included Wilhel ...
(2000–2004)
*
Thomas Dausgaard
Thomas Dausgaard (; born 4 July 1963 in Copenhagen) is a Danish conductor.
Biography
Dausgaard studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and with Norman Del Mar at the Royal College of Music in London. He subsequently partici ...
(2004–2011)
*
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in Burgos, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military serv ...
(2012–2014)
*
Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
B ...
(2017–present)
Danish Radio conductors affiliated with the orchestra
*
Launy Grøndahl (1925–1956)
*
Emil Reesen
Emil Reesen (30 May 1887 – 27 March 1964) was a Danish composer, conductor and pianist. Aside from composing for ballets and operas he was also a noted film score composer. He is remembered mainly for his operetta ''Farinelli'' (1942), ...
(1927–1936)
*
Erik Tuxen
Erik Oluf Tuxen (4 July 1902 – 28 August 1957) was a Danish big band leader, composer and arranger, who worked for most of his life in Denmark. From 1936 until his death by cancer on 28 August 1957 he was conductor at the Danish National Symphon ...
(1936–1957)
*
Mogens Wöldike
Mogens Wöldike (5 July 1897, Copenhagen – 20 October 1988, Copenhagen) was a Danish conductor, choirmaster, organist, and scholar known for his interpretation of music from the Baroque and Classical periods. His son-in-law was the Haydn ...
(1950–1976)
*
Thomas Jensen
Thomas Jensen (Copenhagen, 25 October 1898 – Frederiksberg, 13 November 1963) was a Danish orchestra conductor.
Life and career
Born into a working class household, he studied at the Danish Conservatory of Music.Cane, A. Thomas Jensen ...
(1957–1963)
References
External links
Official DRSO Danish-language pageDRSO English-language official page
{{Authority control
Danish orchestras
Musical groups established in 1925
Radio and television orchestras
Culture in Copenhagen
National orchestras
1925 establishments in Denmark