The Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra (NRSO) was a Dutch

radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

. It was founded in 1985 after a merger of the Promenade Orchestra and the Radio Chamber Orchestra (Omroep Orkest). In 2005, the NRSO was disbanded, and its functions were absorbed into the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and the

Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic The Nederlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie (RKF) was a Dutch orchestra active from 2005 to 2013. It was based at the (MCO) and performed concerts at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. History The orchestra was formed in 2005 as a merger of the and some of ...

. The NRSO's last concert took place on 7 July 2005.

Productions

The orchestra participated in various operatic productions and in special musical projects as well as international competitions. It served as the regular accompanying orchestra of the

Kiril Kondrashin Kirill Petrovich Kondrashin (; – 7 March 1981) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. People's Artist of the USSR (1972). Early life Kondrashin was born in Moscow to a family of orchestral musicians. Having spent many hours at rehearsals, he ma ...

Conductors' Masterclasses, the Oscar Back Concours, and the International Vocalists' Competition. The orchestra appeared at the Holland Festival, the Gaudeamus Week, and in several educational projects. The NRSO had also served as the opera orchestra for a number of opera productions, including

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

's ''

Aleko The Moskvitch-2141, also known under the trade name Aleko (Russian: "АЛЕКО", derivative from the name of the automaker "Автомобильный завод имени Ленинского Комсомола", ''Avtomobilnyj zavod imeni Len ...

'',

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (; May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an Austrian composer and conductor, who fled Europe in the mid-1930s and later adopted US nationality. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential comp ...

's ''

Die tote Stadt (German for ''The Dead City''), Opus number, Op. 12, is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957) set to a libretto by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius Korngold. It premiered in ...

'', and several operas of

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...

. It has also played in the Dutch première of ''

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'' (Three Sisters) by

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, in a co-production with the Netherlands Touring Opera Company.

Chief conductors

The RSO's chief conductors included

Kenneth Montgomery Kenneth Montgomery OBE (28 October 1943 – 5 March 2023) was a British conductor active in the concert hall and opera house. He held music director positions in the UK, the Netherlands and the US. Life and career The only child of Lily and Tom ...

(1985–1989), Henry Lewis (1989–1991),

Kees Bakels Kees Bakels (born 14 January 1945, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch conductor. Bakels began his musical career as a violinist, and later studied conducting at the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. He has appeare ...

(1991–1996) and

Eri Klas Eri Klas (7 June 1939 – 26 February 2016) was an Estonian conductor. He conducted or served as artistic director for the Estonian National Opera, the Finnish National Opera, the Danish Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orc ...

(1996–2003). Klas became Principal Guest Conductor in the 2003-2004 season. Hans Vonk held the title of Chief Conductor in the 2003-2004 season, the orchestra's last chief conductor. Vonk's neurodegenerative illness had debilitated him to the point that he conducted several NRSO concerts from a wheelchair. Other guest conductors have included

Jiří Kout Jiří Kout (born 26 December 1937) is a Czech conductor who currently works as both chief conductor of the and as a director of the Theater St. Gallen. Coming from the eastern surroundings of Prague, Kout experienced the Soviet influence earl ...

János Fürst János Fürst (8 August 1935 – 3 January 2007) was a Hungary, Hungarian-born Conducting, conductor and violinist. Biography Fürst was born in Budapest to a Jewish-Hungarian family. He originally studied the violin at the Franz Liszt Academ ...

Stanisław Skrowaczewski Stanislaw Pawel Stefan Jan Sebastian Skrowaczewski (; October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Biography Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów, Second Polish Republic (now Lviv, Ukraine). His pa ...

Jaap van Zweden Jaap van Zweden (; born 12 December 1960) is a Dutch conductor and violinist. He is currently music director of the Seoul Philharmonic and music director-designate of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Biography Van Zweden was bo ...

, and Alexander Lazarev, as well as

Marc Soustrot Marc Soustrot (born 15 April 1949) is a French classical conductor. He was the music director of the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire from 1976 to 1994, and from 1995 to 2003 GMD of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn which plays in both opera ...

Armin Jordan Armin Jordan (9 April 1932 – 20 September 2006) was a Swiss conductor known for his interpretations of French music, Mozart and Wagner. Armin Jordan was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. "Mr. Jordan was a large man, with a slab of a face and a ful ...

, and

Jean-Bernard Pommier Jean-Bernard Pommier (born 17 August 1944 in Beziers), is a French pianist and conductor. Early life and education Jean-Bernard Pommier began playing the piano at the age of four and gave his first public concert at the age of seven. He had ...

. *

(1985–1989) * Henry Lewis (1989–1991) *

(1991–1996) *

(1996–2003) * Hans Vonk (2003–2004)

References

External links

Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra websiteJan Marijnissen, "Opdoeken Radio Symfonie Orkest grenst aan barbarij". Dutch Socialist Party commentary, 21 June 2004 (commentary in Dutch).
{{Authority control Dutch symphony orchestras Disbanded orchestras Former radio and television orchestras Musical groups established in 1985 1985 establishments in the Netherlands 2005 disestablishments in the Netherlands Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Netherlands Public Broadcasting