The Stuttgarter Philharmoniker (Stuttgart Philharmonic) is the

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, the capital of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany. Founded in 1924, they play regular concert series including youth concerts in Stuttgart, as well as guest concerts internationally.

History

Foundation

The orchestra was founded as Philharmonisches Orchester Stuttgart (Philharmonic Orchestra Stuttgart) in September 1924 when the orchestra played a ''1. Werbe-Concert'' (First Promotion Concert). A rapid artistic development made it possible to engage conductors and soloists such as

Leo Blech Leo Blech (21 April 1871 – 25 August 1958) was a German opera composer and conductor who is perhaps most famous for his work at the Königliches Opernhaus (later the Berlin State Opera / Staatsoper Unter den Linden) from 1906 to 1937, and late ...

Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy. Life and career Flesch was born in Moson (now part of ...

Hans Knappertsbusch Hans Knappertsbusch (12 March 1888 – 25 October 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Knappertsbusch followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in Ger ...

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

Fritz Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...

Carl Schuricht Carl Adolph Schuricht (; 3 July 18807 January 1967) was a German conductor. Life and career Schuricht was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), German Empire; his father's family had been respected organ-builders. His mother, Amanda Wusinowska, a widow soo ...

and

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian Conducting, conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zadar, Zara, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (now ...

. In 1933, under the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, Jewish and most foreign musicians were dismissed, and the orchestra was divided: part of the musicians joined the orchestra of the Reichssender Stuttgart broadcaster, while others continued as "Landesorchester Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern".

After 1945

After the end of World War II, most members of the former philharmonic orchestra reunited under the name Stuttgarter Philharmoniker. Principal conductors from 1949 to 1972 included Hermann Hildebrandt,

Willem van Hoogstraten Willem van Hoogstraten (March 18, 1884 – September 11, 1965) was a Dutch violinist and conductor. Van Hoogstraten was born in Utrecht, and studied the violin from age eight including studies with Alexander Schmuller, and enrolled at the conserv ...

, Hans Hörner, Antonio de Almeida and Alexander Paulmüller.

Hans Zanotelli Hans Zanotelli (23 August 1927 – 12 July 1993) was a German conductor. Life Born in Cronenberg, now part of Wuppertal, Zanotelli learned to play the violin and piano as a child. He studied music at the Musikhochschule Köln from 1942 to 194 ...

was

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

from 1972 to 1985, and shaped to orchestra into a powerful group. In 1976, Stuttgart, the capital of

, took over the orchestra, with

Wolf-Dieter Hauschild Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (6 September 1937 – 18 May 2023) was a German conductor, choirmaster, artistic director, composer, harpsichordist and university lecturer. After working for the East German Berliner Rundfunk from 1971, he was principal co ...

as principal conductor from 1985 to 1991.

Carlos Kalmar Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor.Macaluso, p. 194 Biography Born to Jewish immigrant parents from Austria, Kalmar began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy o ...

continued the tradition from 1991 to 1995.

Jörg-Peter Weigle Jörg-Peter Weigle (born 1953, in Greifswald), is a German conductor and music professor. He is the uncle of the conductor Sebastian Weigle and the violist Friedemann Weigle. Weigle received his first musical training from 1963 to 1971 as a memb ...

was

Generalmusikdirektor A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

(GMD) from 1995 to 2002.

Walter Weller Walter Weller (30 November 1939 – 14 June 2015) was an Austrian-born conductor and classical violinist. He made several recordings over the years, founded his own string quartet, and led or co-led several well known orchestras and operas. Wel ...

, who had been closely associated with the orchestra for many years, was appointed Honorary Conductor in October 2003. From September 2004 to 2013,

Gabriel Feltz In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

was conductor of the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and GMD of Stuttgart. The orchestra was awarded the Prix Rachmaninoff in 2007, in recognition of the most extensive performance cycle of Rachmaninoff's works in German-speaking countries, with all symphonies, piano concertos and other orchestral works. In the 2015/16 season,

Dan Ettinger Dan Ettinger (; born 1971) is an Israeli conductor, opera singer and pianist. Biography Ettinger is descended from Romanian immigrants to Israel, as his father and grandmother are Holocaust survivors. He grew up in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon. ...

succeeded Feltz in the positions. He conducted a

concert performance A concert performance or concert version is a performance of a musical theater or opera in concert form, typically without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers. Concert performances are commonly pres ...

of Puccini's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'' with international stars, the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno and the Aurelius Sängerknaben. Ettinger left the orchestra after the 2023/24 season.

Program

In addition to several concert series in its home town, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker regularly give guest performances every year in Germany and abroad. Tours have taken the orchestra to the U.S., Japan, South America, the China and Mexico. In recent years, they toured to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. Since 2013, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker have been the festival orchestra of the , directed by

Marcus Bosch Marcus Bosch (born 28 October 1969) is a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) in Aachen, held the position at the Staatstheater Nürnberg from 2011, and with the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock from 2020. He is the artistic dire ...

Recordings

The orchestra recorded for broadcasts and CDs, including Rachmaninoff's ''

Der Fels Der Fels () was group of German Expressionist artists that existed from around 1920 to 1927. History The group's origins lay in the meeting of Franz Bronstert, Fritz Fuhrken and Georg Philipp Wörlen in a World War I prisoner of war camp in Ripon ...

'' and '' Toteninsel'', Scriabin's '' Prométhée'' and Mahler's Symphonies Nos 1 and 3 to 7. They played Ravel's ''

La valse ''La valse'', ''poème chorégraphique pour orchestre'' (a choreographic poem for orchestra), is a work written by Maurice Ravel between February 1919 and 1920; it was first performed on 12 December 1920 in Paris. It was conceived as a ballet bu ...

'' for DVD. In 2013, they recorded the world premiere recording of the complete ballet music from

Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...

's ''Belkis, Regina di Saba''. They released a recording of Beethoven's Symphonies No. 3 and 5.

References

External links

* *
Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra
arkivmusic.com *

Bach Cantatas Website 2015
Stuttgarter Philharmoniker
(articles, in German) ''

Stuttgarter Zeitung The () is a German language, German-language daily newspaper (except Sundays) edited in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a run of about 200,000 sold copies daily. History and profile It was first edited on 18 September 1945, just ...

'' * Davie Billinge
Hans Huber (1852–1921) / Symphonies
musicweb-international.com November 2016 {{authority control German symphony orchestras Orchestras in Stuttgart 1924 establishments in Germany