The Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra (german: Düsseldorfer Symphoniker) is Germany's second oldest municipal orchestra, based in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. Tonhalle, the hall of the orchestra, lies opposite the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

river. Alongside the

Duisburg Philharmonic The Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra (in German: Duisburger Philharmoniker) is a German orchestra based in Duisburg. The orchestra was founded in 1877. Conductors include: * Walter Josephson (1899 to 1920) * Paul Scheinpflug (1920 to 1928) * Eug ...

, it is one of two orchestras of the

Deutsche Oper am Rhein The Deutsche Oper am Rhein (German Opera on the Rhine) is an opera company based in Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The opera also has an associated classical ballet company. Axel Kober has been its Music Director since 2009. The resident orchestra, th ...

History

In May 1818, the Municipal Music Association was formed as part of the 1st Lower Rhine Music Festival.

Friedrich August Burgmüller Friedrich August Burgmüller (3 May 1760 – 21 August 1824) was a German pianist, Kapellmeister and Conducting, conductor as well as the first municipal music director in Düsseldorf and co-founder of the Lower Rhenish Music Festival. He is the fat ...

was hired as the ensemble's first Municipal Music Director, and his successors included

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

(1833–35),

Ferdinand Hiller Ferdinand (von) Hiller (24 October 1811 – 11 May 1885) was a German composer, Conductor (music), conductor, pianist, writer and music director. Biography Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his fat ...

(1847-1850) and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

(1850-1854). In 1864, the orchestra was officially founded when 34 musicians were officially accepted into the city's service. In 2009, Russian conductor

Andrey Boreyko Andrey Boreyko (russian: Андре́й Ви́кторович Боре́йко, Andrey Viktorovich Boreyko, pl, Andrzej Borejko; born 22 July 1957) is a Polish-Russian conductor. He has Polish ancestry on his father's side and Russian ancestry ...

became the music director of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Great Hall of the Tonhalle Düsseldorf was renamed Mendelssohn Hall in honor of its former music director. In 2015,

Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer (born 9 September 1949 in Budapest) is a Hungarian conductor. He is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, chief conductor of the Danish Chamber Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Düsseldorfer Sym ...

was appointed music director of the orchestra. In March 2020, the orchestra recorded Gustav Mahler's symphonic works for the AVI label in association with

Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in the ...

Directors

General music directors

General music directors include: *

(1812–1824) * From 1824 to 1833 the position remained officially vacant, interim music directors:

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

and

Ferdinand Ries Ferdinand Ries (baptised 28 November 1784 – 13 January 1838) was a German composer. Ries was a friend, pupil and secretary of Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, nine piano concertos (the first concerto ...

(1833–1835) *

Julius Rietz August Wilhelm Julius Rietz (28 December 1812 – 12 September 1877) was a German composer, conductor, cellist, and teacher. His students included Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur O'Leary, and (by far the most celebrated) Sir Arthur ...

(1835–1847) *

(1847–1850) *

(1850–1854) *

Julius Tausch The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...

(1854–1890) *

Julius Buths Julius Buths (7 May 185112 March 1920) was a German pianist, conductor and minor composer. He was particularly notable in his early championing of the works of Edward Elgar in Germany. He conducted the continental European premieres of both the ...

(1890–1908) * Karl Panzner (1908–1923) *

Georg Schnéevoigt Georg Lennart Schnéevoigt (8 November 1872 – 28 November 1947) was a Finnish conductor and cellist, born in Vyborg, Grand Duchy of Finland, which is now in Russia, to Ernst Schnéevoigt and Rosa Willandt. Career Schnéevoigt began his c ...

(1924–1925) *

Hans Weisbach Hans Edgar Weisbach (19 July 1885 – 23 April 1961) was a German conductor and pianist. Life Born in Głogów, Silesia, Weisbach came from a family of soldiers. Already from the age of seven he received piano as well as violin lessons and appea ...

(1925–1933) * Hugo Balzer (1933–1945) *

Heinrich Hollreiser Heinrich Hollreiser (24 June 191324 July 2006) was a German conductor. Born in Munich, he attended the State Academy of Music there and went on to serve as the conductor at the opera houses in Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Mannheim, and Duisburg. From ...

(1945–1952) * Eugen Szenkar (1952–1960) *

Jean Martinon Jean Francisque-Étienne Martinon (usually known simply as Jean Martinon (); 10 January 19101 March 1976) was a French conductor and composer. Biography Martinon was born in Lyon, where he began his education, going on to the Conservatoire ...

(1960–1965) *

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 ...

(1966–1971) * Henryk Czyż (1971–1974) *

Willem van Otterloo Jan Willem van Otterloo (27 December 190727 July 1978) was a Dutch conductor, cellist and composer. Biography Van Otterloo was born in Winterswijk, Gelderland, in the Netherlands, the son of William Frederik van Otterloo, a railway inspector, a ...

(1974–1977) *

Bernhard Klee Bernhard Klee (born 19 April 1936) is a German conductor, originally from Schleiz, in Thuringia. Trained as a member of the Thomanerchor, he has since conducted many of Europe's most prestigious orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic and Sta ...

(1977–1987) *

David Shallon David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

(1987–1993) * Salvador Mas i Conde (1993–1999) * John Fiore (2000–2008) *

(2009–2014) *

(Principal Concert Conductor) (since 2015)

Guest conductors

Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz. T ...

Alberto Erede Alberto Erede (8 November 190912 April 2001) was an Italian conductor, particularly associated with operatic work. Born in Genoa, Erede studied there before studying at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, then with Felix Weingartner at Basle, and ...

Antal Dorati Antal may refer to: * Andal, 8th-century poet saint of South India * Antal (given name) * Antal (surname) Antal is clan (gotra) of Jats found mainly in Punjab besides it is also surname of Hungarian origin.Notable people with the surname include: ...

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross) and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned durin ...

* Nikolai Alexeev *

Zdeněk Mácal Zdeněk Mácal (; born 8 January 1936) is a Czech people, Czech Conducting, conductor. Mácal was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four. He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáč ...

Sir Roger Norrington Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington (born 16 March 1934) is an English conductor. He is known for historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music. In November 2021 Norrington announced his retirement. Life Norr ...

Axel Kober Axel Kober (born 10 February 1970) is a German conductor. Since 2009 he has been the music director of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Kober was born in Kronach and studied conducting under Peter Falk and Günther Wich at the Hochschule für Musik W ...

Mario Venzago Mario Venzago (born 1948) is a Swiss conductor. Biography Venzago began piano studies at age five. He studied at the conservatory and the university in Zurich. He later studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. His other positions ...

Bruno Weil Bruno Weil (born 24 November 1949, in Hahnstätten) is a German symphonic conductor. He is principal guest conductor of Tafelmusik, the period-instrument group based in Toronto, Music Director of the Carmel Bach Festival in California, and artistic ...

Dmitrij Kitajenko 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 ...

Sir John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Gard ...

* John Neal Axelrod *

Sir Neville Marriner Sir Neville Marriner, (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) was an English violinist and "one of the world's greatest conducting, conductors". Gramophone (magazine), Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another com ...

Sir Charles Groves Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE (10 March 191520 June 1992) was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors. After accompanying positions and conducting v ...

References

{{coord, 51, 13, 55, N, 6, 46, 22, E, region:DE_type:landmark, display=title German symphony orchestras 1818 establishments in Germany Musical groups from Düsseldorf