In his last season with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph Poppen will again put a special focus on contemporary music with performances of works by Vivier and world premieres by the composers Milko Kelemenen and Daniel Glaus, amongst others. He will open the season with Haydn's "The Creation". Another highlight is Bruckner's Mass No. 3 as opening concert of the Musikfestspiele Saar. In addition to their regular concert series in Frankfurt, Christoph Poppen and the German Radio Philharmonic are guests at the Cologne Philharmonie as well as the Dresden Music Festival.

In addition to the recordings of the complete Mendelssohn symphonies on Oehms Classics, Christoph Poppen and the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra are now recording the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies. In February 2009 the first CD of this cycle with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and his Ouverture 1812 was released on Oehms Classics. It will be followed by Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1 and the Capriccio op. 45. Furthermore, a new CD with Jörg Widmann's "Messe für Orchester" and "Elegie" with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Widmann as soloist will be released on ECM Records in September 2010.

In the season 2010/11, Christoph Poppen will be guest conductor at the Berner Symphonieorchester, the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, amongst others.

For further information on Christoph Poppen, please visit http://www.christophpoppen.com and for the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, please visit http://www.drp-orchester.de .

Christoph Poppen will conduct the Bern Symphony Orchestra on 17 and 18 December. The programme includes Jörg Widmann's Con brio, Beethoven's Piano concerto No. 5 and his Symphony No. 8.

From 17 to 24 October Christoph Poppen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie will tour China with concerts in Beijing, Suzhou, Shanghai and Macao:

17 October, Beijing, National Centre for the Performing Arts
20 October, Suzhou, Science and Cultural Arts Centre
22 October, Shanghai, Oriental Arts Centre
Haydn: Symphony No. 104
Mozart: Horn concerto No. 4
Stamitz: Flute concerto op. 29
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 Xiao Ming Han – horn, Sheng Qi He - flute

18 October, Beijing, National Centre for the Performing Arts
24 October, Macao, Cultural Centre, Macau International Music Festival
Mozart: Symphony No. 35
Britten: Serenade op. 31
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Warren Mok – tenor, Xiao Ming Han – horn

Afterwards Christoph Poppen will conduct the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and cellist Jan Vogler:

20 November, Singapore
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Schumann: Cello concerto op. 129
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Jan Vogler, cello

Christoph Poppen will conduct the new scenic production „Sing für mich, Tod“ about the composer Claude Vivier which will celebrate its premiere at the Ruhrtriennale on 5 September 2009. Please find further information HERE.

Christoph Poppen will conduct the new scenic production „Sing für mich, Tod“ about the composer Claude Vivier which will celebrate its premiere at the Ruhrtriennale on September 5, 2009.

Albert Ostermaier created a new monologue on the basis of Vivier’s biography which shows Claude Vivier waiting lonely and sleepless to the arrival of his murderer and spending the last hours of his life over his score “Glaubst Du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele?”. The ensemble musikFabrik will play three parts with Vivier’s music, David Hermann (production) and Christof Hetzer (room) will transform the machine hall of the Zeche Zweckel into an irritating artificial world.

5 September, Gladbeck, Zeche Zweckel, RuhrTriennale
musikFabrik
Vivier: Lonely Child
Vivier: Wo bist Du Licht
Vivier: Glaubst Du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele
Albert Ostermeier – text, David Hermann – production, Christof Hetzer – stage/costume, Georg Veit – light, Jan Philipp Possmann – dramaturgy
Melanie Waltz – soprano, Maria Riccarda Wesseling – mezzo-soprano, Kammerchor der Chorakademie Dortmund
Further performances: 6/8/11/12/13 September

Please find further information about the performance here http://www.ruhrtriennale.de/de/programm/2009/sing-fuer-mich-tod/ as well as further information about Christoph Poppen here http://www.pr2classic.de/artist.cfm?AID=54&LID=1.

After their successful tour to Switzerland, Christoph Poppen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern will appear at the “Milano Musica” Festival which unifies the most advanced contemporary European musical scene:

8th November, Milano Musica, Conservatorio di Milano
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI
Nono: Julius Fucik
Incardona: Ho chiesto alla polvere
Berg: Drei Stücke für Orchester op. 6
Szymanowski: Sinfonia No. 3
Tomás Cernŷ – tenor, Davide Catena, Michele Di Giacomo – speaker

In their second season together, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and its chief conductor Christoph Poppen, whose contract has been renewed until 2011, focus their programmes on the 20th and 21st century.

In 2009 ECM will release a new CD with works by Jörg Widmann which Christoph Poppen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie have just recorded. After the complete recording of Mendelssohn’s symphonies, Christoph Poppen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie will record the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies. In February 2009 the first CD with Tchaikovsky’s symphony No. 4 and the Ouvertüre 1812 will be released on Oehms Classics.

In their second season together, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and its chief conductor Christoph Poppen, whose contract has been renewed until 2011, focus their programmes on the 20th and 21st century. Seven young violinists like Sergej Khachatryan, Carolin Widmann and Renaud Capuçon perform violin concertos by Szymanowki, Korngold, Chatschaturjan, Reimann and Prokofieff. Composer in residence is Aribert Reimann, whose orchestral and chamber oeuvre will be presented in several concerts.

From 30 September to 6 October the Deutsche Radio and Christoph Poppen will tour Switzerland which will be their first tour together. Stops on the trip are St. Gallen, Basel Zurich, Bern, Geneve and the “Settimane Musicali di Ascona” in Locarno. The programme refers to Switzerland with works by the composers Heinrich Sutermeister and Rolf Liebermann, who were both born in Zurich.

In 2009 ECM will release a new CD with works by Jörg Widmann which Christoph Poppen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie have just recorded. After the complete recording of Mendelssohn’s symphonies, Christoph Poppen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie will record the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies. In February 2009 the first CD with Tchaikovsky’s symphony No. 4 and the Ouvertüre 1812 will be released on Oehms Classics.

More information about Christoph Poppen you can find here http://www.christophpoppen.com and about the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie here http://www.drp-orchester.de/pages/englisch.php.

The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and its chief conductor Christoph Poppen have announced the program for their second season. Since its foundation in the season 2007-08 the name of the orchestra stands for innovative programming, not least through Poppen’s engagement for contemporary music. In the coming season Poppen focuses on great violin concerti of the 20th century (Szymanowski, Korngold, Chatschaturjan, Reimann and Prokofjew, among others) and French music which plays a big role in the music life of this particular German region close to the French border; composer in residence will be Aribert Reimann.

Besides the regular performances in Metz, Luxemburg and Mainz, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie will start giving a series of concerts in Karlsruhe as well. Furthermore, the annual concert series in the Alte Oper Frankfurt will be extended to three concerts. In autumn 2008 the first tour with Christoph Poppen takes the orchestra to Switzerland.

A series of TV productions, CD recordings (complete recording of Tchaikowsky’s symphonies as well as songs for orchestra by Rihm, Henze and Riemann with the sopranist Juliane Banse, among others) and not least special concert formats for young concertgoers are part of the orchestra’s work in the new season.

Christoph Poppen will conduct the WDR Sinfonieorchester, the Danish National Symphony Kopenhafen, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, among others.

For further information on Christoph Poppen, please visit http://www.christophpoppen.com/. and for the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, please visit http://www.drp-orchester.de/.

The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and its Principal Conductor Christoph Poppen are about to start into their first season. This new orchestra that has just been formed through a merger of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken and the Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern will be based in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern. The grand opening concerts of the first season of the orchestra will be on September 20 (Kaiserslautern) and 23 (Saarbrücken).

In its first season, the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing a total of 63 concerts in its two “homes” as well as on tour in Munich, Frankfurt, Essen, Dusseldorf, and the Saarland-Lorraine-Luxembourg region region. The artistic focus in the first season of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Christoph Poppen will be on symphonies by Tchaikovsky, solo concertos by Brahms as well as on works by Jörg Widmann, artist-in-residence. Please find below a list of their concerts in the first half of the season. Further information you can find on Christoph Poppen’s new website (www.christoph-poppen.com) as well as on the website of the orchestra (www.deutscheradiophilharmonie.de). Already in September they will embark on a first tour to Munich and Dusseldorf.

The upcoming television broadcasting dates of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Christoph Poppen on the French-German cultural channel „ARTE“ are:

- ARTE: November 11, 2007, 7pm "Nordische Nacht" („Nordic Night“)
- ARTE: November 25, 2007, 7pm, opening concert of the "German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra"

In October 2007, Oehms Classics will release the first part of the complete recording of Schumann’s symphonies with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and its Principal Guest Conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. The first CD of the orchestra with its Principal Conductor Christoph Poppen will be the complete Mendessohn symphonies, to be released at the beginning of 2008 on Oehms Classics. A further recording with Christoph Poppen and the orchestra will be with works by Frank Martin on ECM Records.

In the upcoming season, Christoph Poppen will also conduct the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Torino Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale.

Christoph Poppen

13 September, Kaiserslautern, Fruchthalle
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Rokoko-Variationen
Tschaikowsky: Streicherserenade
Danjulo Ishizaka, Violoncello

14 September, Saarbrücken, Funkhaus Halberg
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Mozart: Gran Partita
Tschaikowsky: Rokoko-Variationen
Tschaikowsky: Streicherserenade
Danjulo Ishizaka, Violoncello

20 September, Kaiserslautern, Fruchthalle
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Violinkonzert
Widmann: Elegie - Konzert für Klarinette u. Orchester
Tschaikowsky: Sinfonie Nr. 4
Jörg Widmann – Klarinette, Augustin Hadelich - Violine

23 September, Saarbrücken, Kongresshalle
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Violinkonzert
Widmann: Elegie - Konzert für Klarinette u. Orchester
Tschaikowsky: Sinfonie Nr. 4
Jörg Widmann – Klarinette, Maxim Vengerov – Violine

24 September, Munich, Philharmonie am Gasteig
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Violinkonzert
Tschaikowsky: Sinfonie Nr. 4
Maxim Vengerov – Violine

25 September, Dusseldorf, Tonhalle
see 24 September

5 Oktober, Saarbrücken, Kongresshalle
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Hamlet Ouvertüre-Fantasie op. 67
Widmann: „Ad absurdum“ Konzert für Trompete und Orchester
Schubert: Sinfonie Nr. 9 C-Dur „Große“

25 October, Trossingen, Musikhochschule
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Gershwin: Strike up the band; Medley und Ouverture zu Girl Crazy; Summertime aus Porgy & Bess; They all laughed aus Shall we dance; Suite aus Catfish row
Bernstein: Ouvertüre zu Candide, Glitter and be gay, Conga aus Wonderful Town; Movie aus Trouble in Tahiti, 3 Tanzepisoden aus On the town
Sondheim: Send in the clowns aus Little night music
Bernstein: I feel pretty und Medley aus Westside Story
Measha Brueggergosman, Sopran

26 October, Saarbrücken, Funkhaus Halberg
see 25 Oktober

27 October, Künzelsau, Stadthalle
see 25 October

28 October, Kaiserslautern, Fruchthalle
see 25 October

8/9 November, Odense, Konserthus
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Haydn: Symphonie Nr. 5 A-Dur Hob.I.5
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante
Schubert: Symphonie Nr. 5
Bjarne Hansen – Violine, Luminita Marin Christensen - Viola

10 November, Bornholm, Ronne
see 8 November

19/20 November, Lausanne
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne
Bartók: Divertimento
Demenga: Création pour deux violoncelles et orchestre
Haydn: Symphonie Nr. 92 “Oxford”

8 December, Kaiserslautern, Fruchthalle
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Nussknacker
Moderation: Michael Quast
Martina Winkel, Schattenspiele

9 December, Saarbrücken, Funkhaus Halberg
see 8 December

16 December, Saarbrücken, Kongresshalle
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Capriccio italien op. 45
Brahms: Doppelkonzert a-Moll op. 102
Tschaikowsky: Sinfonie Nr. 1 g-Moll op. 17
Julia Fischer – Violine, Daniel Müller-Schott - Violoncello

31 December, Kaiserslautern, Fruchthalle
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Tschaikowsky: Ouvertüre 1812
Tschaikowsky: „Wohin sind die entschwunden“ Arie des Lenski
Ravel: Tzigane; Bolero
Chopin: Andante und Grand Polonaise brilliant op. 22
Gounoud: „Welch unbekannter Zauber fasst mich an?“
Tschaikowsky: Valse scherzo op. 34
Liszt: Ungarische Rhapsodie Nr. 2
Brahms: Ungarische Tänze Nr. 1, 3, 10
Dvorak: Slawische Tänze Nr. 1, 7, 8
J. Strauss: Czardas aus Ritter Pazman; Radetzky-Marsch
Barbara Dobrzanska – Sopran, Andrej Dunaev – Tenor, Kirill Troussov – Violine, Joseph Moog - Klavier

2008

1 January, Mainz, Rheingoldhalle
see 31 December

4 January, Saarbrücken, Kongresshalle
see 31 December

The program of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra’s first season has been revealed in a press conference on May 15 in Saarbrücken. This new orchestra will be formed out of the two German radio symphony orchestras of Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern. Christoph Poppen, currently Principal Conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken, will become the Principal Conductor of this new orchestra. The website of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra is now online: www.deutscheradiophilharmonie.de.

“Merging the two traditional German radio symphony orchestras of Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern into a combined entity” – Christoph Poppen, Principal Conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken is facing this very unusual challenge. In September 2007 he will conduct the new orchestra called “Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern” (German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra), for the first time. The season program will be presented in a press conference in Saarbrücken on May 15. Poppen’s new role of overseeing and artistically guiding this merged orchestra is a natural development in his exceptionally multifaceted career.

Starting as a solo violinist and chamber musician (a founding member of the former Cherubini Quartett) that resulted in numerous recordings, Christoph Poppen was appointed to a professorship for Violin and Chamber Music at the “Hochschule für Musik” in Detmold and later at the “Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik” in Berlin, where he was President from 1996 through 2000. From 2001 through 2005 Christoph Poppen was Artistic Director of the renowned ARD International Music Competition.

In 1995 Christoph Poppen started his 11 year tenure as Artistic Director of the Munich Chamber Orchestra, enabling the ensemble with a new profile within a short period of time. His unmistakable programs were based on a contrast of the classical and the contemporary, with several commissioned works. With a similar vision and a commitment to contemporary music, he is planning the programs with his new orchestra in Saarbrücken, emphasizing works by Mendelssohn and Matthias Pintscher (born 1971) in the current season which is his first as Principal Conductor. As a result of the Mendelssohn cycle, a recording of the complete Mendelssohn symphonies will be released in the autumn of 2007.

Located at the very heart of Europe (in a triangle boardering Germany, France and Luxemburg), the orchestra’s mission has always included promotion of international cultural exchange. Enjoying close links with neighboring countries, the orchestra exchanges performances with the Orchestre National de Lorraine in Metz (France) and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. The orchestra plays an important role in the cultural integration of the Saarland-Lorraine-Luxembourg region and is also regularly heard throughout Europe thanks to its involvement in the “Deutsch-Französische Konzerte” (“Franco-German Concerts”) – a radio series that the Saarländischer Rundfunk, the regional broadcasting corporation, has organized for the past 50 years.

In addition to his position as Principal Conductor, Christoph Poppen is also a frequent guest conductor and has appeared with orchestras such as the Bamberg Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Staatskapelle Dresden, Düsseldorf Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Detroit and Indianapolis Symphonies, as well as the Orchestra of the Royal Danish Opera. Appointments in the upcoming months include concerts with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo and the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra. With the Munich Chamber Orchestra he will tour in March, with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie in April.

His extensive discography with several recordings released on ECM records covers works by composers such as Tigran Mansurian, Aram Khatchaturian, Sofia Gubaidulina, Karl Amadeus Hartmann as well as Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Haydn.

On February 1, 2007, PR2 classic will begin to do PR work for conductor Christoph Poppen and his orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken. Mr. Poppen started his tenure as Principal Conductor of the orchestra at the beginning of the season 2006/07. In September 2007 the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken will merge with the Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern and become the “Deutsche Radio Philharmonie” (German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra).