The Bayerisches Staatsorchester this year celebrates its 500th birthday, making it one of the oldest orchestras in the world, rich in tradition. As the in-house musicians of the Bayerische Staatsoper, they feel at home both in the orchestra pit and on stage. In 2022 it was voted Orchestra of the Year for the eighth consecutive year by opera critics in Opernwelt magazine. At the London Gramophone Awards, they took home both opera and orchestral awards for their performances of Die tote Stadt and The Snow Queen, as well as for Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 released on the Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings label – an unprecedented tally in the history of these awards.

The Bayerisches Staatsorchester began life as the Munich court orchestra. Its origins can be traced back to the year 1523. The ensemble’s first well-known director was Orlando di Lasso from 1563. While the focus of their artistic expression consisted initially of church music, as the 17th century progressed more mainstream concerts and opera performances were added to their repertoire. By the mid-18th century, operas were being performed more regularly and today constitute one of the orchestra’s principal responsibilities. The world premieres of Mozart’s La finta giardiniera (1775) and Idomeneo (1781) soon marked early milestones. 

In 1811, the members of the court orchestra founded the Musical Academy which hosted Munich’s first ever public concert series, the academy concerts. Here, the Munich audience were introduced to musicians such as Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Edvard Grieg. . Today, the Musical Academy continues to influence the musical life of the city and the state of Bavaria. Alongside the symphonic concerts at the Nationaltheater and a variety of chamber music series, the Academy is also home to the ATTACCA youth orchestra and the Hermann Levi Academy which are committed to supporting and training musicians at the start of their careers. Through the company Bayerisches Staatsorchester Konzert GmbH the Musical Academy organises and manages its orchestra tours and symphonic guest performances itself. These regularly take the orchestra to the music capitals of the Europe, including Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, Vienna, Lucerne and London, as well as further afield to Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and New York.

Among the many great composers with whom the orchestra has been affiliated, Richard Wagner stands apart. In 1865, Hans von Bülow conducted the world premiere of Tristan und Isolde at the Nationaltheater. Three further Wagner operas were also premiered in Munich: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868), Das Rheingold (1869) and Die Walküre (1870). Many of the most significant musical personalities of their time have fronted the orchestra as chief conductor: from Richard Strauss, Hermann Levi, Felix Mottl, Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch to Sir Georg Solti, Joseph Keilberth, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano and Kirill Petrenko. The orchestra also enjoyed a close relationship with Carlos Kleiber. The 2021/22 season saw Vladimir Jurowski take the reins of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester as general music director.