Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Among Munich’s three principal orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra stands out as both the most visible and, by many accounts, the most accomplished. Its extensive discography spans numerous international and specialist labels, and every conductor who has led it has enjoyed widespread recognition as a leading figure of his era.

Founded in 1949 under the auspices of Bavarian Radio in Munich, the ensemble quickly rose to prominence when Eugen Jochum became its first chief conductor. Jochum shaped the orchestra into one of Germany’s strongest, captured its earliest recordings in 1950, and guided it on a series of acclaimed European tours during the 1950s that reached audiences from Austria to Britain. Guest appearances by Igor Stravinsky in 1951 and Paul Hindemith in 1955 further enhanced its stature. Jochum’s successor, Rafael Kubelik, assumed the post in 1961 and maintained a largely Classical and Romantic repertoire. His notable projects with the orchestra included recordings of several Mahler symphonies and Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, while frequent tours took the ensemble across Europe and North America throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

A steady stream of distinguished visitors followed, among them Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, and Leonard Bernstein, the last of whom began regular collaborations in 1976. Kubelik stepped down in September 1979; Kiril Kondrashin, recently arrived from the Soviet Union, assumed the duties of chief conductor yet died suddenly in 1981 before receiving the official title. Sir Colin Davis took the podium in 1983, leading highly praised tours to Japan in 1984 and the United States in 1986 and producing acclaimed recordings of the Mendelssohn symphonies and Beethoven’s Fidelio. Lorin Maazel succeeded him in 1993, continuing the orchestra’s emphasis on choral and vocal repertoire; his tenure yielded striking accounts of several Mahler works with Waltraud Meier.

Maazel departed in 2002, and Mariss Jansons assumed the role the following year. Jansons and the orchestra received the Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance in 2006 for their EMI Classics recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13. Beginning in 2009 the ensemble issued recordings on its own BR Klassik imprint, including Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 and, in 2019, Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 paired with Schubert’s Symphony No. 3. The partnership with Jansons produced numerous award-winning releases before his death on December 1, 2019, shortly after his final concert with the orchestra in early November. Sir Simon Rattle was appointed the next chief conductor in 2021, his term scheduled to commence with the 2023–2024 season.

The 115-member orchestra continues to broadcast regularly on Bavarian Radio and performs principally in the Philharmonie Munich am Gasteig and the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Outside Germany it is occasionally referred to as the Munich Symphony. Members of the full ensemble have also formed several smaller groups, notably the Koeckert-Quartet, the Bach Collegium Munich, and the Munich Brass Ensemble, whose high standards mirror the excellence of the parent orchestra.