The Bayerische Staatsorchester

#BSO500 #BSOontour

The Bayerische Staatsorchester celebrates its five hundredth anniversary this year, making it one of the oldest and most traditional ensembles in the world. The orchestra, which is based at the Bayerische Staatsoper, has 144 members and performs both in the orchestra pit and on the concert podium. In 2022, the orchestra was voted Orchestra of the Year for the eighth time in a row in the Opernwelt magazine critics' poll and was also honoured at the Gramophone Awards in London for its recordings on the Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings label as an opera and symphony orchestra (for Die tote Stadt and The Snow Queen as well as for Mahler's Symphony No. 7) - an unprecedented success in the history of the Gramophone Awards.

In 1811, the members of the court orchestra founded the Musikalische Akademie e. V. (Musical Academy Association), which established Munich's first public concert series with the Academy Concerts. To this day, the activities of the Musikalische Akademie continue to shape the musical life of Munich and the Free State of Bavaria. The activities in Munich are complemented by numerous guest performances and concert tours that regularly take the orchestra to the world's most important music centres.

The Bayerische Staatsorchester has staged several world premieres, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Idomeneo and Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as well as Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. Many of the most important musical personalities of their time presided over the orchestra as principal conductors: from Hermann Levi, Richard Strauss, Felix Mottl, Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch to Sir Georg Solti, Joseph Keilberth, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano and Kirill Petrenko. The orchestra also enjoyed a close relationship with Carlos Kleiber. With the 2021/22 season, Vladimir Jurowski has taken over as General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsorchester.

The history of the Bayerische Staatsorchester began half a millennium ago. As early as 1523, there are the first employment records documenting the salaries of the permanently employed court musicians. From small beginnings in a courtly context, the orchestra gradually grew into a large opera orchestra, which soon also regularly performed symphonic works and, from the early 19th century, organized the first public concert series in Munich as part of the Musikalische Akademie. Today, the Bayerische Staatsorchester is one of the top international ensembles with members from twenty-four nations. In 2023, it celebrates its first 500 years and looks to the future from the perspective of this venerable tradition - music for all at the highest level.

Unplugged for 500 years
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EUROPEAN TOUR 2023

500th Anniversary Tour

7.9.2023-23.9.2023

In addition to the Academy concerts in its home city of Munich, the Bayerische Staatsorchester also planned its own concert tours as part of its Musical Academy. For the orchestra, the trips are a welcome opportunity to raise its profile at home and abroad as a musical ambassador for the Free State of Bavaria and to develop itself further as an artistic collective.

Unplugged for 500 years
#BSO500 #BSOontour

Merano

7.9.23

8.30 pm

TO THE DATE

Luzern

8.9.23

7.30 pm

TO THE DATE

Hamburg

10.9.23

8 pm

TO THE DATE

Berlin

11.9.23

8 pm

TO THE DATE

Bukarest

13.9.23

8 pm

TO THE DATE

Bukarest

14.9.23

7.30 pm

TO THE DATE

Munich - Opera for all

16.9.23

7 pm

TO THE DATE

London

18.9.23

7.30 pm

TO THE DATE

London

19.9.23

7.30 pm

TO THE DATE

Paris

21.9.23

8 pm

TO THE DATE

Linz

22.9.23

7.30 pm

TO THE DATE

Vienna

23.9.23

7.30 pm

TO THE DATE

SPECIAL PROJECTS AROUND THE ANNIVERSARY

In addition to a large number of concerts, we want to celebrate our 500th anniversary with you throughout the year away from the stage or the orchestra pit. Therefore, here is an overview of all the opportunities to participate in our jubilee year.

Unplugged for 500 years
#BSO500
#BSOontour

#BSO500 - THE DIGITAL PROJECT

500 years of the Bavarian State Orchestra means not only 500 years of musical excellence, but also…

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THE BOOK FOR THE ANNIVERSARY

This year, the Bavarian State Orchestra is celebrating its 500th anniversary and looking back on its…

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FESTE FEIERN, WIE SIE FALL

We conquer the city space, make music and celebrate - together with all of Munich's inhabitants.…

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CONCERTS

In 2023, the anniversary will be celebrated with a variety of concerts and other events. The first two Academy concerts of the 2023-24 season will bring reunions with two former music directors: Kirill Petrenko will conduct Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony, once premiered in Munich, and Kent Nagano will present a new work by Unsuk Chin, among others.

Academy Concerts

As early as the 18th and 19th centuries, (often privately organized) concerts were referred to as…

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Chamber concerts

The large Bavarian State Orchestra and its many members not only perform opera and symphonic music,…

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Special concerts

If the Academy Concerts are the Bavarian State Orchestra's freestyle and the Chamber Concerts its…

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BAYERISCHE STAATSOPER RECORDINGS

Since May 2021, the Bayerische Staatsoper documents its excellence, versatility and tradition with a new in-house label: Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings (BSOrec).

Discover selected opera productions and concert recordings as well as important archive recordings as CD or DVD/BD.

More information about all releases and BSOrec can be found here.

ELIAS

This is the first historic recording from the archive on the Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings label:…

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MUNICH OPERA HORNS: VOYAGE

Under the title Voyager, the hornists embark on a sound journey from the origins of their instrument…

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OPERCUSSION: ORIGINAL GROO

Original Grooves is a journey to the origins and traditions of percussion. Especially in Latin…

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IGOR STRAWINSKY / PJOTR I.

The Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera on DVD for the first time! Together with the young…

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_Awards

_{International Classical Music Awards 2023}

The ICMA 2023 in the category "Video: Opera" was won by our in-house label with the release The Snow Queen conducted by Kirill Petrenko.

The winter music of Hans Abrahamsen finds in the tale of Hans Christian Andersen the appropriate framework for a writing torn between complexity and simplicity. The role of Gerda is brightly and intensely interpreted by Barbara Hannigan, the singer being doubled by an actress, a child, and even a doll! Kay, male role, is sung by a mezzo, Rachael Wilson, vibrant in her commitment. The orchestra, conducted with great inspiration by Cornelius Meister, allows us to hear the icy sound of music with an elusive character, while the filming of Christoph Engel shows us the very beautiful scenography of Harald B. Thor.

More information

Gramophone Awards 2022

We are delighted to announce that three releases from Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings have been honored at the 2022 Gramophone Awards.
Gramophone magazine's critics selected the best from a shortlist of 72 recordings and our newly established label received no fewer than four prestigious awards - an unprecedented achievement in the Awards' nearly 50-year history.
Kirill Petrenko and the Bayerische Staatsorchester won the award in orchestral recordings with their recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 7.
Hans Abrahamsen's The Snow Queen was honored in the Contemporary category, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's The Death City received two awards: the Opera category and the most coveted award, the Recordings of the Year.

Purchase the three award-winning releases at a special bundle price.

Opus Classic

At the OPUS CLASSIC, the most important prize for classical music in Germany, which was awarded on October 9 2022 in Berlin, the recording of The death city received the award in the category "opera recording". The OPUS CLASSIC was accepted on behalf of the team by Jonas Kaufmann.

The General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Vladimir Jurowski was awarded "Conductor of the Year" for the album "Strauss: An Alpine Symphony".

With the award in the category "Chamber Music Recording" for the Trio 21Meter60, another member of the Bayerische Staatsorchester receives the OPUS CLASSIC: Steffen Schmid (tuba), as well as Constantin Hartwig and Fabian Neckermann (tuba) as former members of the Hermann Levi Academy of the Bayerische Staatsorchester.

More information can be found here.

Orchestra of the Year

Years: 2022, 2008/09, 2011/12 and consecutively since 2013/14.

The Bayerische Staatsorchester has been named Orchestra of the Year for the 8th time in a row. As one of the oldest and most traditional orchestras in the world, the Bayerische Staatsorchester emerged from the Munich Hofkapelle. Its origins can be traced back half a millennium to the year 1523.

While church music was initially the focus of its artistic activity, more and more secular concerts and opera performances were added in the course of the 17th century.
In 1811, the members of the court orchestra founded the Musical Academy Association. With its Academy Concerts, the Musical Academy established Munich's first concert series and continues to shape the musical life of the city and the Free State of Bavaria with its symphonic, chamber music and music education activities.
The Bayerische Staatsorchester holds its present name since 1918. Its status as a top orchestra is representded through guest performances and concert tours in the music centers of the world.

With the 2021/22 season, Vladimir Jurowski has taken over as Bavarian General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsorchester.

In 2023, the Bayerische Staatsorchester celebrates its 500th anniversary.

Here you can find more information.

International Opera Awards

Best Orchestra 2021

Opera! Awards

Orchestra of the year 2019
Find more information here.

Deutschlandradio Kultur

Orchestra of the Year 2017
Here you can find more information.

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI

Vladimir Jurowski, born in Moscow, began his musical training at the city’s conservatory, continuing his journey at the colleges of music in Berlin and Dresden. At the Bayerische Staatsoper he made his debut during the 2015/16 season at an academy concert featuring works including Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3 and went on to conduct a new production of the composer’s opera The Fiery Angel. Furthermore, during the 2020/21 season he conducted the new production of Der Rosenkavalier. He has been as the General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper since autumn 2021.

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MUSICIANS of THE BAyerisches staatsorchester

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ORCHESTRA BOARD
Christian Loferer (Chairman)
Dania Lemp (Vice-Chairman)
Martin Fuchs

MUSICAL ACADEMY
Martina Beck-Stegemann
Matjaž Bogataj
Giorgi Gvantseladze

MANAGING DIRECTOR BAYERISCHES STAATSORCHESTER KONZERT GMBH, BAYERISCHE STAATSOPER RECORDINGS
Guido Gärtner

ARTISTIC ADVISORY BOARD
Milena Viotti
Stefan Ambrosius
Claudio Estay
Yves Savary
Benedikt Don Strohmeier

GUEST CONDUCTORS
Here you will find a list of the international guest conductors and instrumental soloists who will be working with the Bavarian State Orchestra in the 2021/22 season. A "(D)" after the name indicates who is making their debut in Munich this year.

CONDUCTORS
Andrea Battistoni, Alexandre Bloch (D), Ivor Bolton, Gianluca Capuano (D), William Christie (D), Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Teodor Currentzis, Bertrand de Billy, Titus Engel (D), Antonino Fogliani, Mikko Franck (D), Edward Gardner (D), Valery Gergiev, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (D), Thomas Hengelbrock, Michail Jurowski, Gábor Káli (D), Lothar Koenigs, Francesco Lanzillotta (D), Fabio Luisi, Cristian Măcelaru, Antonello Manacorda, Ingo Metzmacher, Stefano Montanari (D), Daniel Oren, Evelino Pidò (D), Carlo Rizzi, Daniele Rustioni (1. guest conductor), Ulf Schirmer (D), Giedrė Šlekytė (D), Stefan Soltesz, Michele Spotti (D)

INSTRUMENTAL SOLISTS
Leif Ove Andsnes (D), Francesco Bearzatti (D), Francesco Diodati (D), Gabriele Evangelista (D), Isabelle Faust, Giovanni Guidi (D), Gerold Huber, Stephan Matthias Lademann, Enrico Morello (D), Sophie Pacini (D), Antonio Pappano, Gianluca Petrella (D), Christian Poltéra (D), Jean-Guihen Queyras (D), Enrico Rava (D), Timothy Ridout (D), Anne Katharina Schreiber (D), Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (D), Danusha Waskiewicz (D).