Biography
Het Gelders Orkest draws its name from the Gelderland province in the Netherlands, where it has become firmly embedded in local cultural activities while also appearing regularly in other Dutch cities and on international stages. When performing outside the country, the ensemble often appears under the designation Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra, with its home base remaining in Arnhem itself; the group maintains a schedule exceeding one hundred concerts each year. Its lineage traces directly to the Arnhemsche Orchest Vereeiniging, established in 1889, which presented the Dutch premiere of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor in 1903. Jaap Spaanderman served as a principal early conductor between 1932 and 1949, during which time he markedly elevated the ensemble’s artistic standards. The creation of the Het Gelders Orkest Foundation in 1949 formalized the orchestra’s contemporary structure as the designated regional ensemble for Gelderland, resulting in regular appearances across Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen, and Arnhem. Subsequent music directors have included Jan Out, Carl von Garaguly, Leo Driehuys, Yoav Talmi, Roberto Benzi from 1989 to 1998, Lawrence Renes from 1998 to 2002, Martin Sieghart from 2003 to 2009, and Antonello Manacorda since 2011. Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi holds the position of permanent conductor and has guided the orchestra on tours to Japan, while guest conductor Nikolay Alexeyev has expanded its exploration of Russian repertoire. The ensemble’s recorded output has consistently reflected wide-ranging interests; a notable early release was the 1990 Ottavo recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, among the first European accounts of Bernstein’s symphonic works. Later projects have appeared chiefly on the Marco Polo, Naxos, and Challenge Classics labels, the last of which issued the orchestra’s 2018 performances of Debussy’s La mer and Ravel’s Ma mère l’oye under Manacorda, alongside a complete Naxos cycle of symphonies by Igor Markevitch.
Albums
