The Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne () is a German

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

based in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker". Its name comes from its past principal concert venue, the Gürzenich concert hall in Cologne. Its primary concert venue is the

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

History

The Gürzenich Orchestra traces its origins to 1827, when a group of Cologne ''Bürger'' sponsored the creation of the "''Cölner Concert-Gesellschaft''" (Cologne Concert Society) to set up "''Gesellschaftskonzerte''" (Society concerts) and "''Abonnementskonzerte''" (subscription concerts). The orchestra began to give concerts at the Gürzenich concert hall in 1857, from which it derived its current name. In 1986, the orchestra took up residence at the ''Kölner Philharmonie''. The orchestra also plays in opera productions in the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the ...

. The ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (GMD) of the city of Cologne, which includes the post of ''Gürzenich-Kapellmeister'', is

François-Xavier Roth François-Xavier Paul Roth (born 6 November 1971) is a French conductor. Biography Roth is the son of the organist Daniel Roth—the two share the same first name. His brother Vincent is a violist. Before turning to conducting, he was a flauti ...

, since 1 September 2015. Roth's initial contract was for 5 years. In October 2018, the orchestra extended Roth's contract to 2022. In September 2022, the city of Cologne announced that Roth is to stand down as ''Gürzenich-Kapellmeister'' at the close of the 2024–2025 season. In July 2024, in light of accusations against Roth of sexting and sexually inappropriate conduct towards other musicians, the city of Cologne announced the close of Roth's tenure as ''Gürzenich-Kapellmeister'' and chief conductor of the

with immediate effect, one season earlier than the previously scheduled tenure conclusion. In March 2023, the city of Köln announced the appointment of

Andrés Orozco-Estrada Andrés Orozco-Estrada (born 14 December 1977) is a Colombian violinist and conductor, with dual nationality in Colombia and Austria. He is the Principal Conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Designate of the Gü ...

as its next GMD and ''Gürzenich-Kapellmeister'', effective with the 2025–2026 season. Also in March 2023, Sakari Oramo first guest-conducted the orchestra. In October 2024, the orchestra announced the appointment of Oramo to the newly-created position of 'Artistic Partner', effective with the 2025–2026 season, with an initial contract of five seasons.

Premieres

The world premieres performed by the Gürzenich Orchestra include the following works: *

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

Double Concerto for Violin and Cello Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A 2 ...

(1887) * Richard Strauss, ''

Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

'' (1895) *

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

, ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'' (1898) *

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, 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 ...

, Symphony No. 3 (in collaboration with the Städtischen Kapelle Krefeld, 1902) * Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 5 (1904) *

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

, '' Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Hiller'' (1907) *

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. Hi ...

, ''Sinfonia prosodica'' (1964)

Gürzenich-Kapellmeister

* Conradin Kreutzer (1840–1842) * Heinrich Dorn (1843–1849) * Ferdinand Hiller (1850–1884) * Franz Wüllner (1884–1902) * Fritz Steinbach (1903–1914) * Hermann Abendroth, GMD (1915–1934) * Eugen Papst (1936–1944) *

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 ...

, GMD (1945–1974) * Yuri Ahronovitch (1975–1986) *

Marek Janowski Marek Janowski (born 18 February 1939 in Warsaw) is a Polish-born German conductor. Biography Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the start of World War II to be with her parents. His father disappear ...

(1986–1990) *

James Conlon James Conlon (born March 18, 1950) is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera and principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra. Early years Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Che ...

, GMD (1990–2002) * Markus Stenz, GMD (2003–2014) *

, GMD (2015–2024) *

, GMD (designate, effective 2025)

Recordings

The orchestra's discography includes several CDs for EMI Classics of the music of

Alexander von Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton ...

, conducted by

. Under conductor emeritus Dmitri Kitayenko, the orchestra recorded a number of complete cycles by the composers Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurzenich Orchestra 1827 establishments in Prussia German symphony orchestras Orchestras in Cologne Musical groups established in the 1820s Arts organizations established in 1827