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SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS | |
| SWR-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg | ||
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contract of February 1, 1946, stated that "the entire symphony
orchestra was transferred from the 'Baeder und Kur' Administration of
Baden-Baden to the 'Suedwestfunk' (South-West Radio)." Heinrich Strobel was the first and legendary Director of Music at the new broadcasting station in the French occupation zone. He had called on his contacts to expedite an effective launching of the music culture at the SWR. He also managed to bring Hans Strobel to Baden-Baden, who was the Head of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the cult figure of German radio. Under his influence, the ensemble, now called the "Suedwestfunkorchester", fostered a special interest in contemporary music, and it gained international acclaim as it went on tour to Basel, Aix-en-Provence, and Paris. Rosbaud and his French-born successor Ernst Bour
understood their cultural mandate primarily as the presentation of new
and hitherto untried compositions. They are still being praised for
their extensive repertoire, openness, diligence, and uncompromising
standard of acoustic quality. With its performance of works by Henze, Fortner, Zimmermann, Ligeti, Penderecki, Stockhausen, Berio, Messiaen, Rihm, and Lachenmann, the orchestra has gained an important role in the history of music. In the fifties, Igor Stravinsky conducted his own compositions with the orchestra several times (which caused him to revise his prejudices against German orchestras). Pierre Boulez began his world-wide career as a
conductor with the orchestra. Michael Gielen was the Head of the orchestra from 1986 to 1999. With his ironical and provocative statement that art "should be allowed to challenge the mind," he followed in the tradition of Rosbaud and Bour. He wanted art not to be handed out as a palliative or tranquillizer, but as a challenge to an alert audience, to meet the truth, which could not always be pleasant. Unconventional handling of traditions and openness to
the new and unusual: these are also the virtues of the new Musical
Director, Sylvain Cambreling. He and his predecessor, Michael Gielen,
and his permanent guest conductor Hans Zender have become a triumvirate
of the highest standard of excellence in the international orchestral
world. In 1999, the orchestra also played the American premier performance of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Requiem for A Young Poet" at Carnegie Hall. In 2000, it contributed to the spectacular success of the first performance of Kaija Saariaho's opera "L'Amour de loin" under the direction of Kent Nagano at the Salzburg Festival. It delivered two guest performances at the 50th Berlin Festival Weeks. At the Salzburg Festivals as well as the Berlin Festival Weeks and "Auftakt 2001" at the old Frankfurt opera, the orchestra performed Hans Zender's "Shir Hashirim". Since the beginning of the 1999/2000 season Sylvain Cambreling is chief conductor of the SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra, with Michael Gielen and Hans Zender as regular visiting conductors. 2005 |
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| Representation:
Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Belgium*, Holland*, Luxembourg
*) not exclusive |
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