The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra occupies a prominent place in Dutch musical life. Numbering 115 musicians, it is the largest orchestra within the Netherlands Broadcasting Music Centre. By consistently striving for the highest level of artistic quality, and through its well-balanced programming, it has also emerged as one of the finest orchestras in the Netherlands. Founded in 1945 by the conductor Albert van Raalte, the orchestra has performed under artistic directors including Bernard Haitink, Jean Fournet, Hans Vonk, Sergiu Comissiona and Edo de Waart, each of whom has contributed to the orchestra’s musical growth. Over the years guest conductors of international repute have visited the orchestra, including Kirill Kondrashin, Antal Doráti, Riccardo Muti, Mariss Jansons, Michael Tilson Thomas, Peter Eötvös and Valery Gergiev. Jaap van Zweden was appointed chief conductor and artistic director of the orchestra in 2005. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra holds a prominent place in the concert series at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Vredenburg in Utrecht. All its concerts are broadcast live on the Dutch national station, Radio 4 and internationally via the European Broadcasting Union. The orchestra has garnered many awards for its recordings of music by contemporary composers including Jonathan Harvey, Klas Torstensson and Jan van Vlijmen. Other highly acclaimed releases include recordings of Wagner operas and the series of Shostakovich symphonies conducted by Mark Wigglesworth, of which the present disc forms a part.
For further information please visit
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra's website.
