Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz & Karl-Heinz Steffens
Biographie Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz & Karl-Heinz Steffens
The Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
(German State Philharmonic Orchestra of Rhineland-Palatinate) was founded in Landau in 1919 and has been a state company of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate since 1998. The Staatsphilharmonie is the largest and most important orchestra of the state, thus contributing to the basic symphonic provision in the Palatinate. It is also considered the symphony orchestra of the metropolitan region Rhine-Neckar. Regionally and internationally, it acts as the envoy of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. Its stylistic range extends from the great symphonies over music theatre productions to film music and silent film projects.
Even during its founding years, with conductors such as Richard Strauss and Hermann Abendroth, the orchestra drew cross-regional attention to itself. In particular, principal conductors like Christoph Eschenbach and Leif Segerstam – today the honorary conductor of the orchestra – helped the orchestra gain an international reputation. Karl-Heinz Steffens has borne artistic responsibility since the summer of 2009. On his initiative and under his aegis, productions have included the multi-year cycle ‘Beethoven and the 20th Century’ and the nationally heeded ‘RING Halle Ludwigshafen’. The metropolitan region summer music festival MODERN TIMES with a focus at the beginning of the season on music of the 20th century and the summer residence of the orchestra in Speyer also began under Steffen’s aegis and annually bring together music lovers from the region and celebrated international artists at different locations.
As of the 2014/15 season, Karl-Heinz Steffens and the Staatsphilharmonie will perform all the symphonies by Anton Bruckner in a cycle lasting several years; the co-operation partners in the project are the respective cathedral choirs, the KathedralKlänge and the Rhineland-Palatinate Cultural Summer. The activities in the metropolitan region will be further expanded with the series REBELLION IM QUADRAT (Mannheim & Karlsruhe School) with new co-operation partners such as the Capitol in Mannheim or the Ludwigshafen Friedenskirche. In a pioneering co-operation with the label Capriccio & DeutschlandRadio Kultur, portraits of composers of the 20th century are being released under the title MODERN TIMES. A recording of the symphonies by Robert Schumann was published by Coviello a few weeks ago.
As the state orchestra, the 88 musicians of the Staatsphilharmonie can be experienced especially in the southern part of the Rhineland-Palatinate. Subscription series of the orchestra take place in the state capital Mainz, in the Rosengarten in Mannheim and in the Concert House in Karlsruhe. In its ‘residential city’ of Ludwigshafen, the Staatsphilharmonie is equally present with its philharmonic concerts in the concert hall of the Pfalzbau and in the BASF Feierabendhaus.
In addition, the orchestra contributes to international music life with many guest appearances. The Staatsphilharmonie holds regular guest concerts in the major concert halls in and outside Europe and is a popular guest at major international music festivals.
Karl-Heinz Steffens
can look back on a special career as a conductor. After he had ended his work as the solo clarinettist of the Berlin Philharmonic, he was appointed General Music Director of the State Orchestra in Halle and the artistic director of the opera house during the ongoing season. Two years later, at the beginning of the 2009/10 season, he took over the German Staatsphilharmonie Rhineland-Palatinate as the principal conductor and general music director. Whereas his commitment in Halle ended in the summer of 2013, he extended his contract with the Staatsphilharmonie until the end of the 2017/18 season.
The orchestras Steffens has conducted include the Bamberg Symphony, the Radio Symphony Orchestras in Berlin, Cologne (WDR), Frankfurt (HR), Leipzig (MDR), and Stuttgart (RSO), the Munich Philharmonic, the Bochum and Düsseldorf Symphonies, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonie, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Symphony, the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich, the Philharmonic State Orchestra in Hamburg, the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, the NDR Radio Philharmonie in Hanover, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the Hallé Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo.
Apart from his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in October 2013, commitments in the 2013/14 season have taken him to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, to the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, to the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and to the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In the 2014/15 season, his appointment book includes meetings with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen, the Vienna Symphony, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra in Oslo and the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich.
In May 2013, from the sick Daniel Barenboim he took over the premiere of the new production of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung at La Scala in Milan. In July 2014, Steffens will return to the important opera house with Cosí fan tutte.
