Hamburger Symphoniker

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The Hamburger Symphoniker (Hamburg Symphony Orchestra) is a German orchestra based in Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the city's three largest orchestras. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra in residence in the Hamburg Music Hall.

[edit] History

The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1957. The first principal conductor of the Orchestra was Robert Heger. His successors included Carlos Kalmar and Miguel Gómez-Martinez. Principal guest conductors have included István Kertész.

With the 2004/2005 season, Andrey Boreyko became the orchestra’s principal conductor. In November 2007, the orchestra announced the sudden resignation of Boreyko from his post, and simultaneously the appointment of Jeffrey Tate as its next chief conductor, as of the spring of 2008.^[1]

The orchestra has worked with conductors such as Charles Mackerras, Christian Thielemann, Peter Ruzicka, Horst Stein, Ralf Weikert and Sebastian Weigle. Some of the world’s finest soloists, such as Christian Tetzlaff, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Edita Gruberova, Placido Domingo and Grace Bumbry, have made guest appearances with the orchestra over the last years.

The Hamburg Symphony regularly plays some twenty operas and ballets each season at the Hamburg State Opera House. The orchestra has made international tours to countries including Great Britain, Italy, France, Spain, Scandinavia, Poland and Turkey. The orchestra also offers subscription series of children’s concerts, and annual open-air concerts held in the central courtyard of Hamburg’s town hall.

Recordings with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra have appeared on Dabringshaus und Grimm, edel classics and Deutsche Grammophon (Deutscher Schallplattenpreis ECHO Klassik).