About
Also known as: Gotheburg Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg & Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Göteborgin sinfoniaorkesteri, Göteborgin sinfonikot, National Orchestra of Sweden, Orchestre symphonique de Göteborg, Swedish National symphony orchestra, The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1905 partly through the efforts of composer and conductor Wilhelm Stenhammar, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra has grown into one of Sweden's two most important orchestras. Based at the Gothenburg Concert Hall, a venue whose exceptional acoustics drew Deutsche Grammophon to record there, the orchestra built its early reputation with luminaries like Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius regularly stepping up to the podium. It was not until 1967, though, that the orchestra began making serious waves beyond Sweden's borders. The real breakthrough came with Neeme Järvi, whose vast repertoire knowledge pushed the ensemble onto the international stage and into an increasingly prominent relationship with the DGG label. The orchestra has a particular strength in Scandinavian music, having recorded the complete symphonies of both Nielsen and Sibelius relatively early on, though its reach extends well into late Romantic repertoire more broadly. Since 2017, Finnish conductor Santtu Matias Rouvali has held the chief conductor role.