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WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln

Conductor: Semyon Bychkov

The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (Sinfonieorchester des Westdeutschen Rundfunks) based in Cologne. The orchestra was founded in 1947 by Allied occupation authorities after World War II, as the orchestra of Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunk (NWDR; Northwest German Radio). It is a full-time symphony orchestra that became the leading orchestra of Cologne, and is not used for other radio or television production. The orchestra later acquired the names of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne.

It became an internationally known symphony orchestra under the batons of music directors Christoph von Dohnanyi (1964-1969), Zdeněk Mácal (1970-1974), Hiroshi Wakasugi (1977-1983), Gary Bertini (1983-1991), Hans Vonk (1990-1997). Its guest conductors have included Claudio Abbado, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Karl Böhm, Fritz Busch, Erich Kleiber, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Lorin Maazel, André Previn, Sir Georg Solti, Günter Wand, and Zubin Mehta.

Each season the orchestra performs about forty concerts in the Philharmonie and at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk, supplemented by concert tours in Europe and the Far East. In 1990-1991 it performed all of Mahler’s symphonies with conductor Gary Bertini in Tokyo and Osaka. The orchestra has recorded frequently and is known for its interpretations of twentieth-century music in addition to the standard Classical and Romantic repertory. It has commissioned and premiered works from such composers as Igor Stravinsky, Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono, Hans Werner Henze, Mauricio Kagel, Krzysztof Penderecki, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

The orchestra has recorded a number of CDs, including Richard Strauss, "Elektra"; Gustav Mahler’s symphonies; Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Gruppen"; Hans Werner Henze, "Tristan"; Bruno Maderna, oboe concertos; Bernd Alois Zimmermann, "Requiem für einen jungen Dichter"; Dmitry Shostakovich, orchestral lieder; Paul Hindemith, "Cardillac"; Carl Orff, "De temporum fine comoedia"; Helmut Lachenmann, "Ausklang" and "Nun"; York Höller, "Pensées" and "Der ewige Tag"; Peter Eötvös, "Atlantis" and "IMA"; Franco Donatoni, "In Cauda"; Gérard Grisey, "Les espaces acoustiques".

Since 1997, the orchestra's principal conductor has been Semyon Bychkov. He is scheduled to step down from the post in 2010. In November 2008, the orchestra announced the appointment of Jukka-Pekka Saraste as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2010-2011 season. Semyon Bychkov conducted the orchestra in Moscow in May 2000.