(Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra)

Looking back on more than 125 years of history, the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra ranks among those German orchestras richest in tradition. After its establishment in 1877, it soon developed into a nationally respected orchestra attracting renowned conductors. Max Reger and Hans Pfitzner were the first prominent guests on the podium of the young orchestra, which was later also moulded by artistic personalities such as Paul Hindemith, Carl Schuricht, and Bruno Walter. The German premiere of Bruckner’s 9th symphony features among the early highlights in the orchestra’s history, as does the performance of Richard Strauss’ “Tod und Verklarung” under the baton of the composer himself. In the 1930’s the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra found a music director of high international renown in Eugen Jochum, who was succeeded by his brother Georg Ludwig Jochum, who oversaw the difficult task of reconstructing the orchestra after the war and who remained music director until 1970. A long period of artistic continuity is associated with the names of Miltiades Caridis, Lawrence Foster, Alexander Lazarew, and Bruno Weil. As from the jubilee season of 2002/2003, the British conductor Jonathan Darlington has guided the fortunes of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra as its music director. He has since substantially moulded and refined the orchestra’s personality.

The impressive list of guest conductors features names like Alberto Erede, Carlos Kleiber, and Horst Stein, as well as Christian Thielemann, Ton Koopmann, and Fabio Luisi. Over the years the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra has attracted and continues to attract on a regular basis soloists such as the pianists Ferruccio Busoni, Vladimir Horowitz, Claudio Arrau, and Wilhelm Kempf, or the violinists Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szeryng, and Arthur Grumiaux. Today much sought after artists such as Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Anna Gourari, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Antoine Tamestit, and Claudio Bohorquez are very welcome guests of the orchestra.

The Duisburg Phil has always been committed to performing and commissioning new work. In recent times featured composers have included Wolfgang Rihm, Mauricio Kagel, Krzysztof Meyer, Jorg Baur, and Manfred Trojahn. Jonathan Darlington has continued to build on this tradition by initiating important premieres, such as the world premiere of Mauricio Kagel’s orchestral work “Broken Chords” and the German premiere of Tan Dun’s symphony “Heaven-Earth-Mankind”. The Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s success is complemented by concert tours to the former Soviet Union, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, and China.

Website of the Duisburger Philharmoniker (Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra)

Weblog of the Duisburger Philharmoniker (Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra)