As one of Germany’s world renowned ensembles, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) is set to make its debut at the National Center for the Performing Arts on March 14. The DSO’s Beijing concert will open with the prelude to Richard Wagner’s three-act romantic opera Lohengrin, considered a highlight in Western music. The concert ends with Beethoven’s Symphony No 3.
For more than 60 years, the DSO has distinguished itself as one of Germany’s leading orchestras. The number of renowned Principal Conductors, the scope and variety of its work, and its particular emphasis on modern and contemporary music, makes the ensemble unique.
The orchestra was founded in 1946 as the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester by the broadcasting station in the American sector of Berlin. Ferenc Fricsay became the orchestra’s first Principal Conductor. He set the standard and defined the orchestra’s repertoire. The orchestra’s sound has been characterized in terms of its transparency, structural clarity and plasticity. It also quickly became well known for its commitment to 20th century music, and its ability to attract first-rate conductors.
In 1964, the young Lorin Maazel took on the artistic responsibility for the orchestra. He was followed by Riccardo Chailly in 1982 and by Vladimir Ashkenazy in 1989, who remained Principal Conductor until 1999. The start of Ashkenazy’s tenure coincided with a significant moment in German history – the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of East and West. In 1993, to avoid confusion in Berlin’s newly reunited cultural landscape, the orchestra decided to relinquish its familiar name in favor of its present one – Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
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