English
The conductor and the orchestra
Solistes Européens Luxembourg
European orchestra
The orchestra Solistes Européens, Luxembourg (SEL) is made up of musicians from some of the finest orchestras in Europe. Since their first concert on 22 September 1989, they have been meeting regularly in Luxembourg for rehearsals, concerts, and recordings.
Another distinctive feature of the SEL is the originality of their programming. Christoph König, music director and principal conductor, succeeds in bringing together in the same programme major works of the classical repertoire with unfamiliar or unknown works, creating surprising and thought-provoking connections.
Eager to promote the upcoming generation of musicians, each SEL season includes concerts showcasing promising young talents both from Luxembourg and abroad, most notably in their Camerata (chamber music) cycle at the Philharmonie. They also reach out to new audiences by organising concerts in schools and public venues. In addition, on the initiative of the Luxembourg Ministry of Culture, they commission a new work each year from a resident composer
The SEL have so far produced over 130 CDs for Sony Classical, Chandos, Naxos, and Rubicon, among other labels.
For the last 35 years, the SEL have figured among the major players in the musical life of Luxembourg. Their activities are supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and the City of Luxembourg as well as numerous patrons.
The orchestra of the SEL is a non-profit-making organisation, officially recognised since 2005 as an association in the public interest. For this reason, all donations made to the SEL are tax-deductible within the limits set by tax law.
The orchestra is under the Patronage of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke.
Christoph König
Christoph König is Designated Music Director & Chief Conductor of the Spanish Radio Symphony Orchestra (RTVE), and has been Principal Conductor & Music Director of the Solistes Européens Luxembourg since 2010. Celebrated for his clarity, precision, and elegant approach, König is in high demand as a guest conductor all over the world. Since his debut in the US in 2010, he has conducted many symphony orchestras like Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, New Jersey, Houston, Oregon and Toronto, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic. From September 2024 onwards, Christoph König will be the Principal Guest Conductor of the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra.
Past and future highlights include appearances with among others the Rochester Philharmonic, the KBS Symphony Orchestra Seoul, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Orchestre de Paris, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Wiener Concertverein, the Bournemouth Symphony, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Beethoven Orchestera Bonn, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the New Zealand Symphony, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, whom he led on a highly successful tour of China in 2008.
From 2009 to 2014, he was Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, and from 2003 to 2006 he served as Principal Conductor of Malmö Symphony Orchestra as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria.
Christoph König has been affiliated with many of the leading opera houses such as Zürich Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bonn Oper, Semper Oper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart and Teatro Real in Madrid.
König’s discography includes works by Schoenberg, Prokofiev Saariaho and Sibelius with Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto Casa da Musica (Ao Vivo); the Melcer Piano Concertos with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Hyperion); Beethoven Symphonies with Malmö Symphony Orchestra (DB Productions); as well as Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 5 & 6, Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7, and Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites with Solistes Européens, Luxembourg (SEL Classics).
“König offered a fresh, sensitive, elegant, and totally unmannered interpretation. Beethoven’s full textures were uncommonly well balanced.” Pittsburgh Tribune, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Symphony no. 6)
König was born in Dresden where he sang in the famous Kreuzchoir. He studied conducting, piano and singing at the Musikhochschule Dresden and furthered his studies in masterclasses with Sergiu Celibidache and Sir Colin Davis, whose assistant he later became with the Sächsische Staatskapelle at the Semper Oper Dresden.