Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Background information
Also known as	OSR
Origin	Geneva, Switzerland
Genre(s)	Classical
Occupation(s)	Symphony orchestra
Years active	1918-present
Website	www.osr.ch
Members
Music Director Marek Janowski
Former members
Founder Ernest Ansermet

The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR; literal translation, "Orchestra of French-speaking Switzerland") is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. Ernest Ansermet founded the OSR in 1918 and directed the orchestra for 49 years, from 1918 to 1967.

The orchestra tours widely and has a long-standing contract for recordings with Decca Records. It premiered many works of the Swiss composers Arthur Honegger and Frank Martin.

During World War II, many German conductors fled their home country to settle in Switzerland. Wilhelm Furtwängler became a regular guest conductor for the orchestra, conducting his favorite repertoire of Beethoven, Brahms, and Richard Strauss. Carl Schuricht also was a guest conductor, even trying to acquaint his audiences with Bruckner and Mahler.

Since 2005, the artistic director and music director of the OSR is Marek Janowski, with an initial contract of 5 years. In September 2008, his contract with the OSR was extended to 2015.^[1]

Directors

• Ernest Ansermet (1918-1967)
• Paul Kletzki (1967-1970)
• Wolfgang Sawallisch (1972-1980)
• Horst Stein (1980-1995)
• Armin Jordan (1995-1997)
• Fabio Luisi (1997-2002)
• Pinchas Steinberg (2002-2005)
• Marek Janowski (2005-present)

References