Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra

Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the hall of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra

The Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra (German: Düsseldorfer Symphoniker) is Germany's second oldest municipal orchestra, based in Düsseldorf. Tonhalle, the hall of the orchestra, lies opposite the Rhine river. Alongside the Duisburg Philharmonic, it is one of two orchestras of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

History

In May 1818, the Municipal Music Association was formed as part of the 1st Lower Rhine Music Festival. Friedrich August Burgmüller was hired as the ensemble's first Municipal Music Director, and his successors included Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1833–35), Ferdinand Hiller (1847-1850) and Robert Schumann (1850-1854). In 1864, the orchestra was officially founded when 34 musicians were officially accepted into the city's service.

In 2009, Russian conductor Andrey Boreyko became the music director of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Great Hall of the Tonhalle Düsseldorf was renamed Mendelssohn Hall in honor of its former music director.

In 2015, Ádám Fischer was appointed music director of the orchestra. In March 2020, the orchestra recorded Gustav Mahler's symphonic works for the AVI label in association with Deutschlandfunk.

Directors

General music directors

General music directors include:

• Friedrich August Burgmüller (1812–1824)
• From 1824 to 1833 the position remained officially vacant, interim music directors: Louis Spohr and Ferdinand Ries
• Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1833–1835)
• Julius Rietz (1835–1847)
• Ferdinand Hiller (1847–1850)
• Robert Schumann (1850–1854)
• Julius Tausch (1854–1890)
• Julius Buths (1890–1908)
• Karl Panzner (1908–1923)
• Georg Schnéevoigt (1924–1925)
• Hans Weisbach (1925–1933)
• Hugo Balzer (1933–1945)
• Heinrich Hollreiser (1945–1952)
• Eugen Szenkar (1952–1960)
• Jean Martinon (1960–1965)
• Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (1966–1971)
• Henryk Czyż (1971–1974)
• Willem van Otterloo (1974–1977)
• Bernhard Klee (1977–1987)
• David Shallon (1987–1993)
• Salvador Mas i Conde (1993–1999)
• John Fiore (2000–2008)
• Andrey Boreyko (2009–2014)
• Ádám Fischer (Principal Concert Conductor) (since 2015)

Guest conductors

• Karl Böhm
• Alberto Erede
• Antal Dorati
• Christoph Eschenbach
• Nikolai Alexeev
• Zdeněk Mácal
• Sir Roger Norrington
• Axel Kober
• Mario Venzago
• Bruno Weil
• Dmitrij Kitajenko
• Sir John Eliot Gardiner
• John Neal Axelrod
• Sir Neville Marriner
• Sir Charles Groves