The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) 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 ...

based in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, where the orchestra mainly performs at two concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the

Kölner Philharmonie The Kölner Philharmonie is a symphonic concert hall located in Cologne, Germany. It is part of the building assemble of the Museum Ludwig and was opened in 1986. The Kölner Philharmonie is located close to the Cologne Cathedral and the Cologn ...

History

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F001346-0001, Köln, WDR Rundfunkstudio

The orchestra was founded in 1947 by

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

occupation authorities after World War II, as the orchestra of ''Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk'' (NWDR; Northwest German Radio), with the name ''Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester'' (Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra). The orchestra became particularly known for its performances of 20th-century and contemporary music. It has commissioned and premiered works from such composers as

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

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 t ...

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

and

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. As a ...

. For the first part of its history, the orchestra did not have a principal conductor, but worked with guest conductors.

Christoph von Dohnányi Christoph von Dohnányi (; born 8 September 1929) is a German conducting, 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 von Dohnanyi ...

was the first conductor to serve as the orchestra's principal conductor, from 1964 to 1969. In the 1990s, the orchestra changed its name to the ''WDR Sinfonieorchester'' (WDR Symphony Orchestra). In February 2017,

Cristian Măcelaru Cristian Măcelaru (born 15 March 1980, Timișoara, Romania) is a Romanian conductor. Biography Măcelaru is the youngest child from a family of 10 children. He studied violin as a youth. He continued his music studies in the United States at th ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra. He returned for three subsequent guest appearances with the orchestra. In May 2019, the orchestra announced the appointment of Măcelaru as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. In June 2020, the orchestra announced an extension of Măcelaru's contract through July 2025. The orchestra has recorded commercially for such labels as Avie,

Hänssler Hänssler-Verlag is a German music publishing house founded in 1919 as Musikverlag Hänssler by Friedrich Hänssler Senior (died 1972) to publish church music. The company is now based in Holzgerlingen. Since 1972 Hänssler Verlag has also publish ...

, Kairos, CPO, and Wergo.

Principal conductors

(1964–1969) *

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 ...

(1970–1974) *

Hiroshi Wakasugi was a Japanese orchestra conductor. He premiered many of the major Western operas in Japan, and was honoured with many awards for cultural achievement. He was best known for conducting works by German composers such as Richard Wagner, Anton Br ...

(1977–1983) *

Gary Bertini Gary Bertini ( he, גארי ברתיני, May 1, 1927 – March 17, 2005) was one of the most important Israeli musicians and conductors. In 1978 he was awarded the Israel Prize for Music. Biography Gary Bertini was born ''Shloyme Golergant'' in ...

(1983–1991) * Hans Vonk (1991–1997) * Semyon Bychkov (1997–2010) *

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Jukka-Pekka Saraste (born 22 April 1956) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Saraste was born in Heinola He was trained as a violinist. He later studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula in the same class as Esa-Pek ...

(2010–2019) *

(2019–present)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Westdeutscher Rundfunk German symphony orchestras Music in Cologne Musical groups established in 1947 Radio and television orchestras 1947 establishments in Germany

History

See also

Principal conductors

References

External links