Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper once hailed the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) as an »orchestral think tank« among the capital’s orchestras. Concert programmes rich in dramaturgy, repertoire discoveries and a commitment to the music of the present are as much a part of its DNA as the courage to use unusual music education formats. The Casual Concerts with moderator, lounge, and live act have been attracting a wide audience since 2007. The ›Symphonic Mob‹ made up of amateurs and professionals has also developed into a successful concept that is now being implemented by orchestras throughout Europe. The DSO has also provided innovative impulses with remix competitions, experimental electronic music projects and unusual films or open air chamber concerts.

Since 2017, Robin Ticciati has been Music Director of the DSO. With his broad repertoire from the Renaissance to the present, with unusual projects like playing on gut strings and using free improvisations as well as extraordinary concert films he constantly demonstrates his versatility and flexibility. His 2023/2024 season includes highlights such as the Ninth Symphonies by Beethoven and Bruckner, Mahler’s ›Lied von der Erde‹, Busoni’s monumental Piano Concerto and a Viennese programme with historical performance practice.

Acclaimed Music Directors shaped the first seven decades of the orchestra’s history as well: Ferenc Fricsay, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kent Nagano, Ingo Metzmacher, and Tugan Sokhiev were Ticciati’s predecessors. The long-standing relationship with top-class guest conductors such as Elim Chan, Stéphane Denève, Manfred Honeck, Marie Jacquot, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, or David Robertson contributes to the orchestra’s reputation, as does the regular collaboration with its current Conductor Laureate Kent Nagano and the other former Music Directors.

The DSO’s concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie are recorded by the Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Deutschlandfunk, and rbbKultur radio and broadcast nationally as well as throughout Europe and the world. There is also a cooperation with ARTE Concert and rbb TV stations for live and television broadcasts. Opera recordings from the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden concert hall and the Salzburg Festival are available on DVD from Arthaus Musik. The DSO received a Grammy Award for the first CD recording of Kaija Saariaho’s opera ›L’amour de loin‹ under the direction of Kent Nagano in 2011. In recent years, Robin Ticciati and the orchestra have moreover presented numerous recordings that have been highly praised by the music press.

Founded as the RIAS Symphony Orchestra in 1946, it was renamed the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin in 1956 and received its current name in 1993. The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is an ensemble of the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH (ROC), backed by Deutschlandradio (40 %), the Federal Republic of Germany (35 %), the State of Berlin (20 %) and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (5 %).

Source: Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin – DSO