The North German Radio (NDR) Symphony Orchestra, one of the most acclaimed orchestras in Germany, returned to Beijing for two concerts at the National Center for the Performing Arts on October 7 and 8.

In November 2003, under the baton of its then Principal conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the orchestra impressed Beijing's concert-goers with its rich and original German flavor at the closing concert of that year's Beijing Music Festival.

It returned with another Christoph, the 79-year-old German conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi (pictured), who was appointed its Principal Conductor in 2004. Dohnanyi, at his best, was one of music's great logicians, remorseless in his examination of underlying forms.

The orchestra played symphonies from the two great German composers, Beethoven and Brahms, and collaborated with the German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann to play Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor.

North German Radio Symphony Orchestra

According to the website of “classicsonline,” the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1945. For more than a quarter of a century it was Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, its first principal conductor, who stamped his artistic profile on the orchestra, and quickly made it well known far beyond the bounds of the City-State of Hamburg.

It made its first tour of Germany as early as 1949, and only a year later made its first foreign tour, important politically as well as musically, to Paris. Other major concert tours brought the NDR Symphony Orchestra great international acclaim as one of the leading German symphony orchestras. Conductors such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Knappertsbusch, Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer, Ferenc Fricsay appeared as guest conductors during the Schmidt-Isserstedt era. In addition to maintaining the classical and romantic repertoire, one of the main priorities in the orchestra’s work has always been the presentation of contemporary works. Conductors such as Bruno Maderna, Hans Rosbaud, Pierre Boulez, Michael Gielen, and Krzysztof Penderecki, who was a guest conductor for many years from 1988 onwards, conducted important first performances in Hamburg.