Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Orchestras
The Oslo Philharmonic can trace its roots back to the times of Edvard Grieg and Johan Svendsen, and was founded in 1919 under its present name. At its home venue, the Oslo Concert Hall, the orchestra gives 60-70 concerts annually, most of which are broadcast by the Norwegian National Radio. The concert programme has a high international profile, not only as far as the repertory is concerned but also because of its guest artists; with its international reputation, the orchestra attracts many distinguished conductors and soloist.
With Mariss Jansons, Music Director 1979-2002, the orchestra achieved great international fame. Touring activities from 1982 onwards included most of the major venues in Europe and festivals such as the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Lucerne and Salzburg, as well as significant venues in North- and South America and East Asia. In 2002 Mariss Jansons was succeeded by André Previn, and in 2006 the orchestra signed a five year contract with Jukka-Pekka Saraste as Music Director. With Maestro Saraste the orchestra has had highly successful concerts, for example at the BBC Proms and the Barbican in London, the Vienna Musikverein, Berlin and Cologne Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, as well as the Rheingau, Grafenegg and Baltic Festivals and venues in Italy, Switzerland and the Benelux countries.
As a recording orchestra the Oslo Philharmonic achieved world fame during the 1980s, with their Tchaikovsky cycle on Chandos. Their present discography includes more than 70 titles with a wide range of repertory, many of which have been awarded Norwegian and international prizes. Among their latest releases are a Brahms cycle (symphonies, Simax), Mahler symphonies no. 1, 7 and 9 (Simax), soloist recordings with Frank Peter Zimmermann (Tchaikovsky, Sony), Daniel Müller-Schott (Elgar and Walton, Orfeo), Christian Lindberg (Berio, Xenakis and Turnage, BIS) and the album Norwegian Heartland – Norwegian national romantic treasures (Grieg, Halvorsen, Svendsen, Saeverud and Tveitt, Simax). In 2008 the orchestra launched its first DVD recording, with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 in its final version as well as sequences from the original 1915 version. Conductor and narrator is Jukka-Pekka Saraste. This was followed by another DVD in spring 2010 on Blu-ray, with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1.
SEASON 2010/2011
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Conductor
With the beginning of the 2006-2007season, Jukka-Pekka Saraste started his new position as Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1987 to 2001, he was Music Director of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and created an orchestra much admired by audiences and critics throughout the world. From 1994 to 2001, Saraste held the post of Music Director of the Toronto Symhony Orchestra. From 2002 to 2005 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. For the Finnish Chamber Orchestra he founded the annual summer festival Tammisaari.
Jukke-Pekka Saraste has established himself as one of the exceptional conductors of his generation, demonstrating considerable musical depth and integrity. Having brought the music of Nordic composers such as Kaja Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg and Esa-Pekka Salonen to greater prominence in the active concert repertoire, Maestro Saraste also has a strong affinity with the sound and style of late romantic music.
Recent guest engagements have included orchestras such as the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, The Bavarian Radio Symphony and Philharmonic orchestras in Munich, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Chicago and Boston Symphony and the National Orchestra of France.
The biography of Jukka-Pekka Saraste includes most notably the complete symphonies of Sibelius and Nielsen with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as works by Bartók, Dutilleux, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, all on the Finlandia label, and a wide selection of contemporary music on Ondine.
SEASON 2010/2011
