Münchner Rundfunkorchester

Founded in 1952, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester has developed over the course of its more than 55-year history to an ensemble with an enormously broad artistic spectrum, and just because of this outstanding versatility it has established a firm position on Munich’s orchestral landscape. Concert performances of operas with international singing stars at the Sunday Concerts and the “Paradisi gloria” series presenting sacred music from the 20th and 21st centuries form just as much a part of its activities as do target-group oriented children’s and young people’s concerts with educational companion programs, entertaining theme evenings under the title “Wednesdays at 7:30” as well as performances of film scores. The Münchner Rundfunkorchester proves that it has its finger on the pulse of our times with cross-over activities in the direction of pop music; for many years, for example, it has successfully collaborated with Bobby McFerrin and Konstantin Wecker. Leading on the ranks of Chief Conductors of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester is Werner Schmidt-Boelcke (1952-1967), followed by Kurt Eichhorn (1967-1975), Heinz Wallberg (1975-1981), Lamberto Gardelli (1982-1985), Giuseppe Patané (1988-1989) and Roberto Abbado (1992-1998). From 1998 until 2004, the Chief Conductor of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester was Marcello Viotti, who died totally unexpectedly in February of 2005. He had a special passion for the French and Italian operatic repertoire, and the success of the “Paradisi gloria” concert series is largely attributable to his commitment. Since September of 2006, Ulf Schirmer holds the post of Artistic Director of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. With a program including, among other things, a Lehár cycle and the world premières of commissioned compositions in the “Paradisi gloria” series, he sets new artistic accents. The 2006/2007 season also marked the beginning of a collaboration between the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and the Bavarian August Everding Theatre Academy; once each season, the two organizations prepare a joint opera project culminating in the presentation of a staged production in the Prinzregententheater. Beyond this, the International “Choice Voices” Singing Competition in memoriam Marcello Viotti was held for the second time already in 2009,. Finally, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester consecrates considerable attention toward bringing music to children and young people, based on the three-column model comprising continuing teacher education, school visits and subsequent concert events. Meanwhile, the “Classy Classics” project, in which selected school orchestras make music together with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, has also become a permanent institution. Supplementing its assignments on its home turf, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester regularly appears at guest concerts, often accompanying such well-known artists as sopranos Annette Dasch and Nicole Cabell, the singers Andreas Scholl, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel as well as cellist Sol Gabetta and pianist Fazil Say. In the summer of 2009, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester first appeared at the “Orff in Andechs” festival, and in 2010 it supplemented its guest performances there with the Andechs ORFF Academy of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester for the furtherance of young musicians. The Münchner Rundfunkorchester is on the audio market with a number of CD recordings. Here, such releases as high-level singer portraits with such artists as Vesselina Kasarova, Diana Damrau and Peter Seiffert, as well as complete recordings of operas and operettas, among them Lehár’s “Das Land des Lächelns” (The Land of Smiles) and Zarewitsch and Otto Nicolai’s “Die lustigen Weiber” von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor) under the direction of Ulf Schirmer are worthy of special mention. In 2010 the Münchner Rundfunkorchester was awarded the Echo Klassik in the category “Operatic Recording of the Year” with the CD recording of “Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend" (The Youth of Simplicius Simplicissimus”) by Karl Amadeus Hartmann. November 2010