About Munich Radio Orchestra

The Munich Radio Orchestra was founded as part of the Bavarian Radio in 1952
with the goal of promoting “entertainment music of the highest quality”. The
“Munich Sunday Concerts” have always been a central part of the orchestra’s
activities. In the first 60 years of its existence, the orchestra had six Principal
Conductors: Werner Schmidt-Boelke, Kurt Eichhorn, Heinz Wallberg, Roberto Abbado, and Marcello Viotti. After an early emphasis on operetta, the orchestra
increasingly focused on operatic repertoire. The first “Munich Radio Concert”
took place in the 1960s, establishing a series featuring music by little known
composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since 2006, Ulf Schirmer has been
the orchestra’s Artistic Director. Highlights of his programing have been first performances
of commissioned works in the series “Paradisi Gloria”, as well as new
discoveries from the world of opera and operetta. In 2005, the Bavarian Radio
announced plans to close the orchestra as part of a series of austerity measures,
but these plans were subsequently abandoned after protests by audiences, conductors,
critics, and unions. Today’s leaner orchestra has an especially creative
education and outreach program. In 2010, the Munich Radio Orchestra received
the ECHO Klassik award for its recording of Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s opera, "Des
Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend".