Biography
Originally formed as an amateur ensemble by musicians who sought personal fulfillment through performance instead of fame or income, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra attained worldwide prominence in the 1970s and 1980s during the tenures of Edo de Waart and David Zinman. Its extensive discography encompasses releases on multiple imprints, most recently Warner Classics.
Musicians established the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest in 1918 to share the pleasure of playing together. Participants initially paid fees to join. Willem Felzer and Alexander Schmuller served as the first music directors, yet Edward Flipse, who led from 1930 to 1962, shaped the group into a contemporary orchestra and placed strong emphasis on modern works. The ensemble persisted through World War II despite the 1940 German bombing of De Doelen and mounting restrictions on cultural life. A replacement 2,300-seat De Doelen Hall opened in 1966 and remains its principal venue.
Franz Paul Decker and Jean Fournet followed Flipse, but the appointment of the young Edo de Waart as music director in 1973 marked another key advance. De Waart and successor David Zinman began a recording initiative and arranged international tours. James Conlon conducted from 1983 to 1991 and was followed by Jeffrey Tate. Fresh attention came after Valery Gergiev joined in 1995, having already directed the orchestra’s 1990 Philips recording of Borodin’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. Philips continued as the label during Gergiev’s time, which concluded in 2008 when Yannick Nézet-Seguin took over. Both Gergiev and Nézet-Seguin stayed on as honorary conductors until the latter was succeeded by Lahav Shani in 2018.
In the 2010s and 2020s the orchestra recorded for assorted labels, most often Warner Classics. Under Shani in 2022 it released a Warner Classics album pairing Kurt Weill’s Symphony No. 2 with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Op. 47.
Musicians established the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest in 1918 to share the pleasure of playing together. Participants initially paid fees to join. Willem Felzer and Alexander Schmuller served as the first music directors, yet Edward Flipse, who led from 1930 to 1962, shaped the group into a contemporary orchestra and placed strong emphasis on modern works. The ensemble persisted through World War II despite the 1940 German bombing of De Doelen and mounting restrictions on cultural life. A replacement 2,300-seat De Doelen Hall opened in 1966 and remains its principal venue.
Franz Paul Decker and Jean Fournet followed Flipse, but the appointment of the young Edo de Waart as music director in 1973 marked another key advance. De Waart and successor David Zinman began a recording initiative and arranged international tours. James Conlon conducted from 1983 to 1991 and was followed by Jeffrey Tate. Fresh attention came after Valery Gergiev joined in 1995, having already directed the orchestra’s 1990 Philips recording of Borodin’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. Philips continued as the label during Gergiev’s time, which concluded in 2008 when Yannick Nézet-Seguin took over. Both Gergiev and Nézet-Seguin stayed on as honorary conductors until the latter was succeeded by Lahav Shani in 2018.
In the 2010s and 2020s the orchestra recorded for assorted labels, most often Warner Classics. Under Shani in 2022 it released a Warner Classics album pairing Kurt Weill’s Symphony No. 2 with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Op. 47.
Albums

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3, Op. 56 "Scottish"
2025

Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, WAB 105
2024

Symphony No. 1
2023

Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
2023

Weill: Symphony No. 2 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
2022

Salonen: Cello Concerto & Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello
2022

Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev: Orchestral Works
2018

Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra, BB 123, Sz.116 / Dvorák: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op.88, B.163 / Debussy: Nocturnes, L. 91 / Haydn: Symphony No.44 in E Minor, Hob.I:44 -"Mourning"
2018

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, WAB 108 (Haas Edition)
2018

Bruckner: Symphony No.8 In C Minor, WAB 108 - Version Robert Haas 1939
2018

Mahler: Symphony No.10 In F Sharp (Unfinished) - Ed. Deryck Cooke
2018

Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 / Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Op.32, TH 46 / Turnage: Piano Concerto
2018

Shostakovich: Symphony No.4 in C Minor, Op.43
2018

Tchaikovsky: Pathétique
2013

Portraits - The Clarinet Album
2013

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2; Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
2011

Ravel: La Valse, Ma Mère l'Oye, Valses nobles et sentimentales & Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2
2009

Prokofiev: Sinfonia concertante - Tcherepnin: Suite for Cello Solo - Crumb: Sonata for Solo Cello
2009

Weber : Clarinet Concertos Nos 1 & 2, Grand Duo concertant & Concertino
2001

Fauré: Requiem; Pavane; Pelléas et Mélisande
2000

Grieg: Piano Concerto – Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
2000

Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible
1997

Delibes: Coppélia / Chopin: Les Sylphides / Gounod: Faust Ballet Music
1993

Rachmaninov: The Symphonies; The Rock
1993

The Best of Rachmaninoff
1993

Liszt : Christus
1991

Borodin: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
1990

Tchaikovsky and Verdi Arias (Dmitri Hvorostovsky – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 1)
1990

Weber: Concertos & Concertino pour clarinette
1990

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Piano & Orchestral)
1987

Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol; Sadko; The Snow Maiden
1983

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale Of Tsar Saltan Suite; The Golden Cockerel Suite
1982

Strauss, R.: Der Rosenkavalier
1977

Schubert on Stage (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 8)
1976

Symphony In D Minor
1974
Singles

