Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Established in 1945 by Stefan Rachoń, the Warsaw orchestra of the Polish Radio was to fulfil a wide range of tasks. For thirty years its repertoire covered mostly popular music. In the seventies of the 20th century the profile of the orchestra began to undergo significant changes. Under Tadeusz Strugała (1990–93) the ensemble was given its present name and moved to a new Polish Radio concert hall, Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio.
In the years 1993–2006 the Artistic Director of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra was Wojciech Rajski, who rejuvenated the ensemble by engaging young enthusiastic musicians. The day-to-day activity of the orchestra includes archive recordings for the Polish Radio and public concerts in the Witold Lutosławski Concert Hall. Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra gave performances in France, Italy (La Scala in Milan, Lingotto Auditorium in Turin), Switzerland, Sweden, Holland (Concertgebouw in Amsterdam), Luxembourg, Austria, Spain, Germany (Darmstadt, Alte Oper in Frankfurt), the Czech Republic, Belgium (Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie) and Ireland, warmly received by the audience and critics alike.
In March 2007 Łukasz Borowicz was appointed Artistic Director of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The CD he recorded with Dominik Połoński and the PRSO won the 2007 Fryderyk Award of the Polish music industry. The orchestra inaugurated the 2007/2008 season giving a concert performance of Verdi’s Falstaff. In March 2008, during the 12th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, PRSO took part in the performance of Lodoïska opera by Cherubini, prepared under the artistic supervision of Christa Ludwig. During one of April weekends, the orchestra performed the complete symphonies of Robert Schumann. The season ended on 8th June with the performance of Songs of the Earth by Roman Palester and Gustav Mahler. PRSO began the present season on September 21, also with an opera concert performance, this time it was a Polish opera Maria composed by Roman Statkowski.
The past few years have seen a further expansion of the orchestra’s repertoire, reflected in its growing discography on the Polish Radio label as well as on EMI Classic, KOCH, CPO and Olympia. The Orchestra often makes recordings and gives performances of film music, it appeared under the baton of Maurice Jarre, Michael Kamen, Ennio Morricone and Michel Legrand in concerts featuring their music.