The Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known in English as the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra and in German as the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks) was a German radio orchestra located in the German cities of Baden-Baden and Freiburg.

History

The first incarnation of the orchestra occurred in 1946, initially with members of the discontinued spa orchestra of the city as the core of players. The revival of the spa orchestra two years later forced the reorganization of the radio orchestra. Subsequently, Hans Rosbaud was hired as the orchestra's first chief conductor. Rosbaud was already well known as a champion of modern music, and Heinrich Strobel, the music director in charge of the orchestra, shared this sympathy with contemporary music. Thus the orchestra had as its focus performances of modern music. The orchestra was first sponsored by '' Südwestfunk'' (SWF), a public broadcasting corporation headquartered in Baden-Baden. In 1998 SWF merged into Südwestrundfunk ("Southwest Broadcasting"), which took over responsibility for the orchestra. The orchestra's final chief conductor was

François-Xavier Roth François-Xavier Paul Roth (born 6 November 1971) is a French conductor, who founded Les Siècles, an orchestra which performs on instruments appropriate to the period of composition of each piece, from the late Baroque and Classical eras to 20t ...

, from 2011 to 2016. Michael Gielen, chief conductor from 1986 to 1999, had the title of ''Ehrendirigent'' (conductor laureate) with the orchestra. In June 2012, the SWR Broadcasting Council voted to approve a measure proposed by SWR ''Intendant'' Peter Boudgoust to merge the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra with the

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR'') was a German radio orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. History The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orchest ...

, for ostensible reasons of budgetary limitations for two separate orchestras affiliated with the SWR. The SWR Broadcasting Council formally passed the measure in September 2012, with the merger of the two orchestras scheduled to occur in 2016. Protests at the decision resulted. The orchestra made its first, and only, appearance at The Proms on 26 August 2015. The orchestra gave its final concert, under the direction of François-Xavier Roth, on 17 July 2016 in Freiburg. The name of the new orchestra is

SWR Symphonieorchester The SWR Symphonieorchester (Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra) is a radio orchestra affiliated with the ''Südwestrundfunk'' (Southwest German Radio) public broadcasting network. Formed in 2016, the orchestra is administratively based in S ...

. One of the most widely heard recordings by this orchestra was Ligeti's ''Atmospheres'' conducted by

Ernest Bour Ernest Bour (20 April 1913 - 20 June 2001) was a noted conductor. Born in Thionville, Moselle (in north-eastern Lorraine, then part of Germany), Bour studied at both the University and the Conservatoire of Strasbourg. His conducting teachers incl ...

on the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack. The orchestra has also recorded commercially for the Hänssler label, including music of Messiaen, Bartók, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Wolfgang Rihm.

Chief conductors

* Hans Rosbaud (1948–1962) *

(1964–1979) *

Kazimierz Kord Kazimierz Kord (18 November 1930 – 29 April 2021) was a Polish conductor. Between 1949 and 1955, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków. He held major conducting positions with the ...

(1980–1986) *

Klaus Arp Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American basebal ...

(1987–1995) * Michael Gielen (1986–1999) * Sylvain Cambreling (1999–2011) *

(2011–2016)

References

External links

Official German-language orchestra homepage
Archive

Archive {{Authority control Baden-Baden Freiburg im Breisgau German symphony orchestras Disbanded orchestras Musical groups established in 1946 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Radio and television orchestras 1946 establishments in Germany 2016 disestablishments in Germany