The Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, based in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

, Germany, is the state's largest symphony orchestra and also the orchestra of the Volkstheater Rostock. Founded in 1897, the orchestra grew to 90 musicians by 1991. They were rewarded a prize for ambitious programs in 1993.

History

The Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock dates back to 1897, when the Leipzig

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

Heinrich Schulz was commissioned as

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

to found an orchestra of at least 34 well-trained musicians. On 22 September 1897, the founding concert of this orchestra, named Rostocker Stadt- und Theaterorchester (Rostock municipal and theatre orchestra), took place under his direction in Rostock's then Apollo Hall with ''

Les Préludes ' ("Preludes" or "The Beginnings"), S.97, is the third of Franz Liszt's thirteen symphonic poems. The music was composed between 1845–54, and began as an overture to Liszt's choral cycle ' (The Four Elements), then revised as a stand-alone co ...

'' by Franz Liszt and Beethoven's Symphony No. 8. In 1914, the orchestra was renamed Städtisches Orchester, now managed by the city of Rostock. Gerd Puls in particular shaped the development of the orchestra in the post-war period. During his 34 years as

Generalmusikdirektor A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

, he led his orchestra to the status of an A orchestra in 1973. In 1990, the orchestra was named Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. His successor Michael Zilm took over in 1991, with an orchestra of 90 musicians. He was able to perform

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's orchestral works including the Second Symphony, and led the orchestra on a tour of Sweden with Mahler's Seventh Symphony in 1995. Other programs of the 1990s focuses on 20th-century music by composers such as

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

and

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

. In 2000, the Norddeutsche Philharmonie became a member of the , an orchestra association which also includes the

WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln The is a German broadcast orchestra of the ' (WDR, West German Broadcasting) in Cologne. The orchestra gives its concerts in such venues as the Kölner Philharmonie and in the Funkhaus Wallrafplatz. History Groups from which the orchestra was f ...

, the

Staatskapelle Weimar The (DNT) is a German theatre and musical organisation based in Weimar. It is a twin institution, consisting of the theatrical (German National Theatre, now solely based in Weimar) and the symphony orchestra known as the . It has a total of s ...

and the

Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt (Oder) The Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt or ''BSOF'' is a symphony orchestra based in Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany. It is the orchestra of the state of Brandenburg. From 2007 to 2019 its leader has been Howard Griffiths. Since 2019 the or ...

, aimed at promoting the performance and recording of orchestral film music. Within this framework, the orchestra recorded the music by

Hans Peter Ströer Hans Peter Ströer (born 1956) in Munich is a German jazz musician and composer. Life and career At the age of seven, Ströer was already composing his own rock 'n' roll pieces on the guitar, and at eleven he founded his first band. Ströer stu ...

for

Heinrich Breloer Heinrich Breloer (, born 17 February 1942 in Gelsenkirchen) is a German author and film director. He has mainly worked on docudramas related to modern German history and has received many awards. Breloer's 2005 docudrama ''Speer und Er'' was descr ...

's film ''

Buddenbrooks ''Buddenbrooks'' () is a 1901 novel by Thomas Mann, chronicling the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseaten (class), Hanseatic ...

''. In 2002, the orchestra made the first recording of

Karl Weigl Karl Ignaz Weigl (6 February 1881 – 11 August 1949) was a Jewish Austrian composer and pianist, who later became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Weigl was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of a bank official who was al ...

's Piano Concerto for the left hand, with

Florian Krumpöck Florian Krumpöck (born 1978) is an Austrian pianist and conductor. Life Krumpöck is the son of a cellist and an art historian. Krumpöck as pianist Among his pianistic teachers were Rudolf Buchbinder, Gerhard Oppitz, Elisabeth Leonskaja a ...

as the soloist and conducted by Manfred Hermann. Zilm, who became honorary conductor, was succeeded by

Mikhail Jurowski Michail Vladimirovich Jurowski (; 25 December 1945 – 19 March 2022) was a Russian conductor who worked internationally, based in Germany for most of his career. He was particularly interested in the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, in concerts a ...

in 1997,

Wolf-Dieter Hauschild Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (born 6 September 1937 in Greiz), is a German conductor, choirmaster, artistic director, composer, harpsichordist and university lecturer. After working for the Berliner Rundfunk from 1971, he was principal conductor of the ...

in 2002, Peter Leonard in 2004,

Niklas Willén Niklas Willén (born March 30, 1961) is a Swedish conductor. He was born in Stockholm and studied conducting and composition there at the Royal College of Music. His conducting teachers were Professors Jorma Panula and Kjell Ingebretsen, while h ...

in 2007, and from 2011 the conductor and pianist Krumpöck. The orchestra continued to be threatened by austerity measures by the city of Rostock and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Several years followed without a general music director. In 2017, the orchestra received financial support from a national program "Exzellente Orchesterlandschaft Deutschland", for the promotion of contemporary music and educational projects.

Marcus Bosch Marcus Bosch (born 28 October 1969) is a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) in Aachen, held the position at the Staatstheater Nürnberg from 2011, and with the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock from 2020. He is the artistic direct ...

took over as conductor in residence in 2018, and became chief conductor in 2020. The orchestra was the first symphony orchestra in Germany to resume playing with all members after the restrictions due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, playing in September 2020 Bruch's

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

and Mahler's Fourth Symphony.

Musical directors

The following individuals have held the position of the orchestra's musical director: * 1897–1924: Heinrich Schulz * 1928–1931:

Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (5 May 190028 May 1973) was a German conductor and composer. After studying at several music academies, he worked in German opera houses between 1923 and 1945, first as a répétiteur and then in increasingly senior conduct ...

Jewanski, Jörg
Schmidt-Isserstedt, Hans, eigentl. Paul Hans Ernst Schmidt
(in German) MGG 2016 * 1931–1938: Adolf WachPietschmann, Michael Stefan
"Aus deinem Reiche muss ich fliehn – O Königin, Göttin! Lass mich ziehn!": Wagners Werke am Stadttheater in Rostock
(in German) Tectum Verlag 2002, p. 2, ISBN 978-3-82-888428-1 * 1938–1945: Heinz Schubert * 1948–1949:

Gerhard Pflüger Gerhard Friedrich Wilhelm Pflüger (9 April 1907 − 24 October 1991) was a German conductor. Life Born in Dresden, Pflüger attended the citizen school and a grammar school in Dresden from 1913 to 1924. He then studied with Kurt Striegler and F ...

* 1949–1951: Fritz Müller * 1951–1954:

Heinz Röttger Heinz Martin Albert Röttger (6 November 1909 – 26 August 1977) was a German composer. From 1928 to 1931 Röttger attended the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich, where he studied under Walter Courvoisier and Hugo Röhr. From 1930 to 1934 he ...

* 1954–1955: Hans Gahlenbeck * 1955–1957: Gerhart Wiesenhütter * 1957–1991: Gerd Puls * 1991–1997: Michael Zilm * 1997–1999:

Michail Jurowski Michail Vladimirovich Jurowski (; 25 December 1945 – 19 March 2022) was a Russian Conducting, conductor who worked internationally, based in Germany for most of his career. He was particularly interested in the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, in ...

* 2002–2004:

(honorary conductor since 2004) * 2004–2007: Peter Leonard * 2009–2011:

* 2011–2014:

* 2020–present:

(principal conductor, from 2018 conductor in residence)

Awards

In 1993, the orchestra was awarded the prize of the German Music Publishers Association for its ambitious programming with GMD Michael Zilm. In 1998, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock received the Kulturpreis der Hansestadt Rostock.

References

External links

*
Volkstheater Rostock

Philharmonische Gesellschaft Rostock
(in German) Supporting association of the orchestra *
Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock
(articles, in German) Neue Musikzeitung {{portal bar, Classical Music, Germany Music in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Music in Rostock German symphony orchestras