Sinfonieorchester Basel
The Basel Symphony Orchestra (SOB ) is one of the oldest orchestras in Switzerland. The hundred -headed professional orchestra plays its own concert series and guest concerts at home and abroad and works regularly in ballet and opera productions at the Theater Basel. Chief conductor since 2009, the renowned American pianist and conductor Dennis Russell Davies.
History
The founding of the orchestra goes back to the year 1876. So you fall into the Year of the music hall in the city casino of Basel, which is the venue of the ensemble even today. Among the conductors who were the Basel Symphony Orchestra closely connected or there are still names such as Johannes Brahms, Felix Weingartner, Gustav Mahler, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Antal Dorati, Gary Bertini, Walter Weller, Armin Jordan, Horst Stein, Otto Klemperer, Nello Santi, Pierre Boulez and Valery Gergiev. A number of important works of the 20th century - including Béla Bartók, Arthur Honegger and Bohuslav Martinů - were premiered by the Symphony Orchestra Basel. 1997 merged the Basel Symphony Orchestra with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Basel. Here, the still valid name was found for the ensemble: Basel Symphony Orchestra. Another milestone in the history of the orchestra was 2012, the replacement of the longtime organizer AMG ( General Music Society ( Basel )) and the simultaneous development of its own subscription series. Since a few years, the Sinfonieorchester Basel also shows increased international presence. For example, in 2010 led a tour of the Basel Symphony Orchestra to China, and in autumn 2012 the orchestra gave two performances in St. Petersburg and Moscow. For the spring 2014 an extensive UK tour is planned with festival appearances in London, Cambridge, Basingstoke, Coventry and Cardiff.
Chief conductor of the Symphony Orchestra Basel:
- Mario Venzago (1997-2003)
- Marko Letonja (2003-2006)
- Dennis Russell Davies ( since 2009)
The repertoire of the Basel Symphony Orchestra is broad: it ranges from Viennese Classicism through Romanticism to compositions of recent modernity. Also new concert forms are sought and implemented co-productions with jazz, rock and techno acts. Under Dennis Russell Davies, the repertoire is constantly being expanded. Priorities are under his direction along with modern classics and works by Swiss and American composers. Davies and the Sinfonieorchester Basel maintain close cooperation with the Paul Sacher Foundation, Basel. Numerous CD recordings document the work of the Basel Symphony Orchestra. Currently, the orchestra is dedicated under its chief conductor complete recordings of the symphonies of Franz Schubert and Arthur Honegger.
Activities 2013/14 season
The Basel Symphony Orchestra plays in the current season 14 self- organized symphony concerts SOB. Occur on international guest soloists such as David Garrett, Matthias Goerne, Håkan Hardberger, Fabio Bidini, Véronique Gens, Matt Haimovitz, Mike Svoboda, Karen Robertson and Katia and Marielle. Will conduct the orchestra not only by its chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies but also by Alan Buribayev, Eugene Tzigane and Heinz Holliger. For two concerts also explorers concerts are held, in which the audience is tuned by small concerts, films, launches, exhibitions or Hörschnipsel on the program. In addition to the concerts, which act as a figurehead, the symphony orchestra plays three concerts cocktail: In a relaxed atmosphere and maybe even with a drink in hand, classical music can be experienced in a different way. The program of the concerts of the Cocktail 2013/14 season revolves around works of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who are accompanied by a brief moderation. Further topics are the Cube Sessions, Late Night concerts in club-like atmosphere, dar. For the young and very young audience the Basel Symphony Orchestra plays family and mini.musik concerts. In partnership with the Basel Paper Mill also five literary chamber concerts in the series are performed " Black on White ".