MDR Rundfunkchor, MDR Sinfonieorchester & Dennis Russell Davies
Biography MDR Rundfunkchor, MDR Sinfonieorchester & Dennis Russell Davies
The MDR Symphony Orchestra
is the oldest radio orchestra in Germany and, just a few years before its centenary in 2024, is maintaining the principles of its origins: It brings cultural education and musical entertainment to the people, live or over the "ether", it reflects the creative spirit of Central Germany in all musical epochs. Its repertoire includes the latest sounds and cross-genre concert formats alongside lively performances of the traditional repertoire. As the radio orchestra of the region, the MDR Symphony Orchestra also maintains its presence outside of the musical centers of central Germany. The production of extraordinary repertoire for the radio program as well as digital formats, especially in the field of education, is now just as naturally one of the tasks of the orchestra as the recording of film music. The very different personalities who were chief conductors at the head of the MDR Symphony Orchestra - including Kristjan Järvi, Jun Märkl, Fabio Luisi, Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Herbert Kegel - have shaped its versatility. Dennis Russell Davies, who took over as Principal Conductor in September 2020, will add another facet to this profile. One focus of his term of office will be the performance of all of Anton Bruckner's symphonies in their respective first versions - a project that is to be completed by 2024, the year of the composer's 200th birthday. The range of guest conductors and guest soloists from Germany and abroad.
The MDR radio choir
is not only the largest and most traditional choir in public broadcasting, but is also considered one of the most sought-after ensembles of its kind worldwide. Conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Kurt Masur, Colin Davis, Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, Neville Marriner , Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Bernard Haitink and Riccardo Muti have paid tribute to the choir. The singers perform regularly with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and Dennis Russell Davies. Other artistic partners include the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, the Dresden Philharmonic and the Basel Symphony Orchestra under Marek Janowski, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Alain Altinoglu.
The fact that the ensemble is not only an excellent partner for the most important orchestras is proven with much acclaimed a cappella interpretations, with the repertoire spanning almost a millennium of music history. As a special ensemble for contemporary music, the 73 choristers have also made a name for themselves through numerous premieres and first performances. In the summer of 2020, the choir attracted particular attention with the virtual premiere of the MDR commissioned work Islands by Michael Langemann. From 2015 to 2019, the Estonian conductor Risto Joost was the artistic director of the MDR radio choir. He was succeeded in January 2020 by Philipp Ahmann, who was already associated with the choir as a guest conductor and who has shaped the choir's musical profile in recent years with a cappella programs and CD recordings, among other things. Among his predecessors are names such as Herbert Kegel, Gert Frischmuth and Howard Arman, who also developed the extremely successful format of the night songs. The ensemble has recorded almost 200 records and CDs, many of which have won awards. The singers received the International Classical Music Award 2017 for the recording of Max Reger's motets op. 110 and the Diapason d'Or for the recording of Rachmaninoff's Vespers conducted by Risto Joost in March 2018. Most recently, a recording with motets by Anton Bruckner and Michael Haydn, conducted by Philipp Ahmann, was released on the Pentatone label in March 2021. Hear it through the European Broadcasting Union, as well as on tours and guest performances around the world.
Dennis Russell Davies
was born in Toledo (Ohio) and studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School New York. His activities as a conductor in opera and concert, as a pianist and chamber musician are characterised by a broad repertoire ranging from the Baroque to recent modernism, by exciting and thoughtful programme constellations and by close collaboration with composers such as Luciano Berio, William Bolcom, John Cage, Manfred Trojahn, Philip Glass, Heinz Winbeck, Laurie Anderson, Philippe Manoury, Aaron Copland, Hans Werner Henze, Michael Nyman and Kurt Schwertsik.
After his first positions as principal conductor of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Connecticut (1969 - 1973), the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (1972 - 1980) and the American Composers Orchestra, New York (1977 - 2002), he moved to Germany and Austria in 1980. This was followed by general music director posts at the Württemberg State Theatre in Stuttgart (1980 - 1987) and with the orchestra of the Beethovenhalle, the International Beethoven Festival and the Bonn Opera (1987 - 1995). From 1997 to 2002 he was principal conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, was appointed professor at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 1997 and was principal conductor of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra from 1995 to the end of the 2006 season, with whom he recorded all 107 of Joseph Haydn's symphonies on CD from 1998 to 2009, the third complete recording of these works ever worldwide. He was also principal conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2016.
Since 2002 Dennis Russell Davies has been principal conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and opera director at the Landestheater Linz. In his concerts, he devotes himself primarily to the works of Anton Bruckner and expands the orchestra's stylistic repertoire with works by international composers with an emphasis on new music. As a guest conductor, Davies has conducted Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston Symphonies and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, while in Europe he is currently working with orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala Milano and the Munich Philharmonic.
After his debut at the Bayreuth Festival (1978 - 1980), he also conducted at the Salzburg Festival, the Lincoln Center Festival New York, the Houston Grand Opera, the Hamburg and Bavarian State Operas, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera New York and the Opéra National de Paris - with directors such as Harry Kupfer, Götz Friedrich, Achim Freyer, Peter Zadek, Robert Altmann, Juri Ljubimov, Olivier Tambosi, Robert Wilson and Ken Russell.
