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The SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden & Freiburg (Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra) is a radio orchestra located in the German cities of Baden-Baden and Freiburg. The first incarnation of the orchestra occurred in 1946, initially with members of the discontinued spa orchestra of the city as the core of players. The revival of the spa orchestra two years later forced the reorganization of the radio orchestra. Subsequently, Hans Rosbaud was hired as the orchestra's first chief conductor. Rosbaud was already well known as a champion of modern music, and Heinrich Strobel, the music director in charge of the orchestra, shared this sympathy with contemporary music. Thus the orchestra had, and continues to have, as its focus performances of modern music.
The current chief conductor is Sylvain Cambreling. The orchestra's main guest conductors are Michael Gielen and Hans Zender.
The orchestra was first sponsored by Südwestfunk (SWF), a public broadcasting corporation headquartered in Baden-Baden. In 1998 SWF merged into Südwestrundfunk ("Southwest Broadcasting"), which took over responsibility for the orchestra.
One of the most widely heard recordings by this orchestra was Ligeti's Atmospheres conducted by Ernest Bour on the 2001: A Space Odyssey Soundtrack. |
