SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra

The SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra, known in German as the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, served as the resident ensemble for Germany’s Südwestrundfunk. Its music directors, from the outset, demonstrated a pronounced commitment to new music.

Established on February 1, 1946, under the designation Philharmonisches Orchester des Südwestfunks, the ensemble drew its initial personnel from the Sinfonie- und Kurorchester Baden-Baden, an ensemble that had ceased operations during World War II. Still in 1946 the players adopted the title Großes Orchester des Südwestfunks; a further renaming occurred in 1966 to Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks. The orchestra received its ultimate designation in 1998, coinciding with the merger of the Southwest German and South German broadcasting networks into the present-day SWR.

Its inaugural conductor, the experienced Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, yielded the podium in 1948 to the Austrian Hans Rosbaud. Rosbaud, noted for his dedication to contemporary scores, directed premieres of works by Hindemith and Stravinsky. Thereafter the orchestra introduced roughly five hundred new compositions and earned international recognition for its forward-looking programs. In 1958 the young Pierre Boulez joined the group as artist-in-residence. Rosbaud’s successors included Ernest Bour, who held the post from 1964 to 1979 and led a recording of György Ligeti’s Atmosphères featured on the soundtrack of 2001: A Space Odyssey; Kazimierz Kord, who served from 1980 to 1986; Michael Gielen, active from 1986 to 1999 and guided by the principle “Musik ist unteilbar,” which accorded equal standing to standard and modern repertory; Sylvain Cambreling, whose tenure ran from 1999 to 2011; and François-Xavier Roth, who continued the contemporary emphasis from 2011 to 2016 under the motto “Wir spielen neue Musik aus allen Zeiten.”

In 2012 broadcasting executives approved the consolidation of the SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, citing overlapping regional responsibilities. Vigorous opposition ensued, allowing the Baden-Baden and Freiburg ensemble to persist. It made its BBC Proms debut in 2015. The following year the orchestra presented its last concert at the Konzerthaus Freiburg, its principal venue since the late 1990s, before being succeeded by the newly formed SWR Symphonieorchester.

Over its history the orchestra amassed a catalogue exceeding fifty recordings, issued on Arte Nova, Hänssler Classic, NEOS, and comparable specialized labels, many captured at the Donaueschingen Musiktage. Earlier performances, including those from Rosbaud’s era, have continued to appear on the successor organization’s in-house imprint, SWR Klassik. In 2021 that label released a complete edition of Richard Strauss’s tone poems under Roth’s direction.