The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra (german: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester) is a German

radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

. Affiliated with the ''

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommer ...

'' (NDR; North German Broadcasting), the orchestra is based at the Elbphilharmonie in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Earlier the ensemble was called the NDR Symphony Orchestra (), and was also known in English as the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. British occupation authorities founded the orchestra after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as part of Radio Hamburg (NWDR), which was the only radio station in what would become

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

not destroyed during the war. The first musicians came mostly from the ranks of the old

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-controlled ''Großes Rundfunkorchester des Reichssenders Hamburg''.

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 conduc ...

, who was living near Hamburg, was given the task of assembling the members, something he accomplished over a period of six months. Schmidt-Isserstedt

conducted Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

the orchestra's first concert in November 1945, with

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

as soloist. Schmidt-Isserstedt served as the first chief conductor of the orchestra, through 1971. The orchestra first visited the UK in 1951, as part of the concerts celebrating the re-opening in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

of the Free Trade Hall. In addition to its performances of the core classical and romantic repertoire by composers such as

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

and

Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germa ...

, the orchestra also has a focus on contemporary works by Bernd Alois Zimmermann,

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

and

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

. It rose to particular significance during the chief conductorship of

Günter Wand Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in Elberfeld, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near Bern, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a co ...

, from 1982 to 1990. Wand conducted several commercial recordings with the orchestra for the RCA Victor Red Seal and EMI labels. The orchestra has also recorded for the

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

and CPO labels.

Thomas Hengelbrock Thomas Hengelbrock (born 9 June 1958) is a German violinist, musicologist, stage director and conductor. Born in Wilhelmshaven, Hengelbrock studied the violin with Rainer Kussmaul. He started his career in Würzburg and Freiburg im Breisgau. ...

became chief conductor of the orchestra with the 2011–2012 season, with an initial contract of three years. In January 2017, the orchestra took up its new residence at the newly opened Elbphilharmonie, and formally changed its name to the ''NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester''. In June 2017, the orchestra announced that Hengelbrock would conclude his tenure with the ensemble at the close of the 2018–2019 season. Past principal guest conductors have included Alan Gilbert, who held the post from 2004 to 2015. The orchestra's principal guest conductor from 2015 to 2021 was Krzysztof Urbanski. In June 2017, the orchestra announced the appointment of Gilbert as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of 5 seasons. He took the title of chief conductor-designate in the autumn of 2017. In December 2017, Hengelbrock expressed his displeasure with the timing of the announcement of Alan Gilbert as his designated successor, within the same month as the original announcement of the previously scheduled conclusion of his tenure. Hengelbrock thus announced his intention to stand down as chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra at the end of the 2017–2018 season, one season earlier than originally planned.

Principal conductors

(1945–1971) *

Moshe Atzmon Moshe Atzmon ( he, משה עצמון, born 30 July 1931) is an Israeli conductor. He was born Móse Grószberger in Budapest, and at the age of thirteen he emigrated with his family to Tel Aviv, Israel. He started his musical career on the hor ...

(1972–1976) *

Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Hermann Wilhelm Tennstedt (; June 6, 1926 – January 11, 1998) was a German conductor from Merseburg. Known for his interpretation of the Austro-German repertoire, especially his sympathetic approaches towards Gustav Mahler, Tennstedt ...

(1979–1981) *

(1982–1990) *

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, Ga ...

(1991–1994) *

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 Ro ...

(1996–1998) *

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 ...

(1998–2004) *

Christoph von Dohnányi Christoph von Dohnányi (; born 8 September 1929) is a German conductor. Biography Youth and World War II Dohnányi was born in Berlin, Germany to Hans von Dohnanyi, a German jurist of Hungarian ancestry, and Christine Bonhoeffer. His uncle ...

(2004–2011) *

(2011–2018) * Alan Gilbert (2019–)

Awards

* 1998: Johannes Brahms Medal of the Free and Hanseatic City of

* 2000: Award for best live performance in Japan * 2014:

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for the category "Best Classical Compendium" (Hindemith: Violinkonzert – Symphonic Metamorphosis – Konzertmusik op. 50)

References

External links

Artsbird.com article on the NDR Symphony Orchestra

{{Authority control Norddeutscher Rundfunk Culture in Hamburg German symphony orchestras Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment winners Musical groups from Hamburg Musical groups established in 1945 Radio and television orchestras 1945 establishments in Germany

Principal conductors

Awards

See also

References

External links