Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne



The Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne (Gürzenich-Orchester Köln) is a German symphony orchestra based in Cologne. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker". Its name comes from its past principal concert venue, the Gürzenich concert hall in Cologne. Currently, its primary concert venue is the Kölner Philharmonie.

History
The Gürzenich Orchestra traces its origins to 1827, when a group of Cologne Bürger sponsored the creation of the "Cölner Concert-Gesellschaft" (Cologne Concert Society) to set up "Gesellschaftskonzerte" (Society concerts) and "Abonnementskonzerte" (subscription concerts). The orchestra began to give concerts at the Gürzenich concert hall in 1857, from which it derived its current name. In 1986, the orchestra took up residence at the Kölner Philharmonie. The orchestra also plays in opera productions in the Cologne Opera.

The current Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the city of Cologne, which includes the post of Gürzenich-Kapellmeister, is François-Xavier Roth, since 1 September 2015. Roth's initial contract was for 5 years. In October 2018, the orchestra extended Roth's contract to 2022. In September 2022, the city of Cologne announced that Roth is to stand down as Gürzenich-Kapellmeister at the close of the 2024–2025 season. In March 2023, the city of Köln announced the appointment of Andrés Orozco-Estrada as its next GMD and Gürzenich-Kapellmeister, effective with the 2025–2026 season.

In July 2024, in light of accusations against Roth of sexting and sexually inappropriate conduct towards other musicians, the city of Cologne announced the close of Roth's tenure as Gürzenich-Kapellmeister and chief conductor of the Cologne Opera with immediate effect, one season earlier than the previously scheduled tenure conclusion.

Premieres
The world premieres performed by the Gürzenich Orchestra include the following works:
 * Johannes Brahms, Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (1887)
 * Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 3 (in collaboration with the Städtischen Kapelle Krefeld, 1902)
 * Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 5 (1904)
 * Max Reger, Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Hiller (1907)
 * Richard Strauss, Don Quixote (1898)
 * Richard Strauss, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (1895)
 * Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Sinfonia prosodica (1964)

Gürzenich-Kapellmeister

 * Conradin Kreutzer (1840–1842)
 * Heinrich Dorn (1843–1849)
 * Ferdinand Hiller (1850–1884)
 * Franz Wüllner (1884–1902)
 * Fritz Steinbach (1903–1914)
 * Hermann Abendroth, GMD (1915–1934)
 * Eugen Papst (1936–1944)
 * Günter Wand, GMD (1945–1974)
 * Yuri Ahronovitch (1975–1986)
 * Marek Janowski (1986–1990)
 * James Conlon, GMD (1990–2002)
 * Markus Stenz, GMD (2003–2014)
 * François-Xavier Roth, GMD (2015–2024)
 * Andrés Orozco-Estrada, GMD (designate, effective 2025)

Recordings
The orchestra's discography includes several CDs for EMI Classics of the music of Alexander von Zemlinsky, conducted by James Conlon. Under their Conductor Emeritus Dmitri Kitayenko the orchestra recorded a number of complete cycles by the composers Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, and Tchaikowski. In October 2005, the Gürzenich Orchestra began to produce their own commercial CD recordings under the "GO live!" label. One unique feature of these recordings is that these are recordings of the orchestra's performances that same evening, made available within 5 minutes of the end of the concert for purchase by audience members. The "Live CDs" were stopped after Stenz's tenure, in favour of live streaming from the orchestra's website.