Munich Radio Orchestra

Logo of the Munich radio orchestra

The Münchner Rundfunkorchester was founded in Munich in 1952 . In addition to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which has existed since 1949, the second orchestral formation of the Bavarian Radio was created . In the Munich orchestral landscape, the radio orchestra is considered an orchestra with a broad artistic spectrum. Due to its guest concerts and its large number of recordings, it is also present nationwide and on the international sound carrier market.

history

With the establishment of the Munich Radio Orchestra in 1952, the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation wanted above all to cultivate “upscale popular music”. From the very beginning, the performances focused on the Munich Sunday Concerts, which are still a focus of the orchestra's repertoire today.

In the first 65 years of its existence, the orchestra had a total of eight chief conductors. The Croatian Ivan Repušić has been the ninth chief conductor since September 1, 2017 . The Sunday concert series started in 1952, the year it was founded, under Werner Schmidt-Boelcke, the orchestra's first conductor. The concert was headed with the motto "Master of the cheerful muse". At that time the focus was on the light muse, especially in the operetta area. Later, the development went towards opera. In 1967 the orchestra presented its first “Münchner Funkkonzert” under Kurt Eichhorn as second chief conductor. The focus of this series was on works by little-known composers. In particular, works from the 19th and early 20th centuries were played. From the mid-1970s, the third chief conductor Heinz Wallberg devoted himself to the standard opera repertoire as well as more unusual pieces such as B. the opera La Bohème by Ruggero Leoncavallo . From 1982 to 1985 Lamberto Gardelli directed the Munich Radio Orchestra. His soft spot was Italian opera. In 1985 Werner Andreas Albert conducted the 1st Promenade Concert; this series replaced the radio concerts from now on. The fifth chief conductor was Giuseppe Patané ; he was particularly interested in forgotten stage works, for example he recorded Pietro Mascagni's opera Iris on record. Due to Patané's sudden death in May 1989, his official tenure as chief conductor was less than a season. In 1992 Roberto Abbado took over as the new chief conductor after having conducted the gala concert for the 40th anniversary of the orchestra a few weeks earlier. In 1998 the Bayerischer Rundfunk engaged Marcello Viotti as chief conductor of the orchestra. At the turn of the millennium, Viotti initiated a concert cycle with sacred music from the 20th century under the title “Paradisi gloria”. From 2006 to August 2017 Ulf Schirmer was artistic director of the orchestra. He set content accents u. a. with the world premiere of commissioned works in the series “Paradisi gloria” and with interesting rediscoveries in the field of opera and operetta. At the beginning of the 2017/18 season, Ivan Repušić took over the position of chief conductor. In 2015 he conducted his very first Sunday concert on the podium of the Munich Radio Orchestra, namely Puccini's La rondine . At his request, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester engages one artist in residence (2017/18: Marina Rebeka ; 2018/19: Simone Rubino; ​​2019/20: Emmanuel Pahud ; 2020/21: Krassimira Stoyanova ).

Today the orchestra ranges from opera / operetta and the series "Paradisi gloria" with sacred and spiritually inspired music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Century through the children and youth concerts with an accompanying educational program ("Klassik zum Staunen") to afterwork classical music ("Wednesdays at half past seven"), crossover projects and film music.

A selection of current CD recordings with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester can be found on its homepage.

Chief conductor

• Werner Schmidt-Boelcke (1952-67)
• Kurt Eichhorn (1967-75)
• Heinz Wallberg (1975-81)
• Lamberto Gardelli (1982-85)
• Giuseppe Patanè (1988-89)
• Roberto Abbado (1992-98)
• Marcello Viotti (1998-2004)
• Ulf Schirmer (2006-2017)
• Ivan Repušić (since 2017)

Attempted dissolution and rescue of the orchestra

In 2005, Bayerischer Rundfunk decided to dissolve the Munich Radio Orchestra by the end of 2006 for reasons of economy. Chief conductor Marcello Viotti resigned after the decision became known. Protests rained down on the management of Bayerischer Rundfunk and the BR committees across the country and nationwide. The Deutsche Orchestervereinigung (DOV) accused the BR of wanting to wipe out one of its most successful departments and called this a "unique event in German post-war broadcasting history". On April 27, 2005, the resolution to dissolve was reversed. In a reduced form (around 50 instead of 72 instrumentalists), the radio orchestra has been able to continue playing since September 1, 2006 and has been working increasingly in the field of youth education and music education since then.

Awards

In 2010 the radio orchestra under the direction of Ulf Schirmer received the ECHO Klassik 2010 for Karl Amadeus Hartmann's opera recording of Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend (based on the adventurous Simplicissimus by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen ) in the category Opera Recording of the Year (20./21. Century) . Most recently, the Offenbach - Colorature album with soprano Jodie Devos received numerous awards .

CD productions (selection)

• Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy : Psalms. BR-Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Howard Arman (BR-KLASSIK 900519)
• Maurice Duruflé : Requiem . BR Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Repušić ; (BR-KLASSIK 900320)
• Franz von Suppé : Overtures . Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Repušić ; (BR-KLASSIK 900326)
• Giuseppe Verdi : Luisa Miller . BR Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Repušić ; (BR-KLASSIK 900323)
• Giuseppe Verdi : I due Foscari . BR Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Repušić ; (BR-KLASSIK 900328)
• Giuseppe Verdi : Attila . BR Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Repušić ; (BR-KLASSIK 900330)
• Jakov Gotovac : Ero the rogue . Croatian Radio Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Ivan Repušić ; (cpo 6096029)

See also

• Radio orchestra
• Sound body of the Bavarian Radio

literature

• Doris Sennefelder (publisher on behalf of Bayerischer Rundfunk): 50 Years of the Munich Radio Orchestra 1952–2002. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1530-1 .
• Heiko Bockstiegel: Schmidt-Boelcke conducts. A musical life between art and the media landscape. Verlag JL Grimm, Wolfratshausen 1994, ISBN 978-3-9802695-1-3 .

Web links

• Munich Radio Orchestra
• Sound carriers and literature from or about the Munich Radio Orchestra in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography of the orchestra in Klassik-heute.com, accessed on September 10, 2015.
2. ↑ Sunday concerts on br.de, accessed on September 10, 2015 ( Memento from October 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ biography of the orchestra on rundfunkorchester.de. Retrieved September 6, 2017 . 
4. ^ Munich Radio Orchestra: Ivan Repušić. In: Münchner Rundfunkorchester. Retrieved May 15, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Paradisi Gloria Concerts 2015/2016, accessed on September 10, 2015 ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
6. ^ Discography of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. Retrieved September 6, 2017 . 
7. ↑ WELCOME, IVAN REPUŠIĆ! Munich Radio Orchestra, accessed on April 26, 2017 . 
8. ↑ BR decides to dissolve the orchestra, on verdi.de, accessed on September 10, 2015
9. ↑ German Music Council: The Münchner Rundfunkorchester continues to play ( memento from November 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) from April 29, 2005, accessed on September 10, 2015
10. ^ Münchner Rundfunkorchester: Offenbach - Colorature with Jodie Devos. In: Münchner Rundfunkorchester. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .