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Cellist Christian Poltéra's discography reflects the balance he keeps in his performance appearances between concerto, chamber, and recital concerts. He performs a remarkably broad range of repertoire, from mainstream works by J.S. Bach, Mozart, and Shostakovich to lesser-known fare by Frank Martin, Othmar Schoeck, and Michael Tippett. In recital and chamber music, Poltéra has collaborated with such artists as pianists Mitsuko Uchida and Lars Vogt, violinists Gidon Kremer and Christian Tetzlaff, and a spate of well-known and ad hoc ensembles, including the Zehetmair, Auryn, and Belcea quartets. Poltéra is also a member of the Trio Zimmermann with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Antoine Tamestit. Poltéra has recorded for various labels, including BIS, Chandos, and Naxos.

Poltéra was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1977. He studied cello with Nancy Chumachenko at the Zurich School of Music. Under her guidance, he played in a trio with violinist Linus Roth and pianist (now conductor) Philippe Jordan, and with them, won first prize in chamber music performance at the 1992 Swiss National Competition. Poltéra had further studies with Boris Pergamenschikow in Berlin and with Heinrich Schiff in both Salzburg and Vienna. During his student years, Poltéra was already drawing notice as a soloist; at 17, he replaced Yo-Yo Ma in a Zurich concert with the Tonhalle Orchestra under David Zinman in a performance of an Elgar concerto. In 1998, Poltéra debuted in the recording studio with a pair of Pan Classics releases, the first containing the Cello Concerto of Paul Huber and the next offering a Dvořák concerto. By the turn of the new century, Poltéra was regarded among the most talented young Swiss cellists. In 2001, Poltéra became a member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme, performing in that capacity until 2004. That year, he received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, which provides financial assistance to outstanding young talent in the development of their careers.

In 2006, Poltéra made his New York debut at Avery Fisher Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra, and the following year made his BBC Proms debut. Meanwhile, the European Concert Hall Organization selected Poltéra as a Rising Star for the 2006-2007 concert season. In this role, Poltéra was given a slate of concerts in a repertoire of his choosing at some of Europe's most prestigious concerts halls. In 2007, Poltéra joined violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann and violist Antoine Tamestit to establish the Trio Zimmermann ensemble. Poltéra continued making important debuts, as with his 2008 appearance at Carnegie Hall with Mitsuko Uchida and others in a performance of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. In 2010, Trio Zimmermann issued an acclaimed BIS recording of Mozart's trios K. 471 and K. 563. Poltéra's busy 2012 schedule included concerts in Switzerland and Belgium with pianist Ronald Brautigam in sonatas by Beethoven.

Poltéra teaches at the University of Lucerne and regularly offers master classes. Since 2013, he has been the artistic director of the Kammermusiktage Büsingen festival. Poltéra has continued a steady recording career as a soloist and with Trio Zimmermann, offering an eclectic catalog of works. In 2022, BIS issued the box set A Retrospective, containing its five Trio Zimmermann albums which cover music from Bach to Schoenberg. That year, BIS also released a recording of Poltéra leading the Munich Chamber Orchestra from the cello on a recording of two Haydn concertos and Hindemith's Trauermusik. Poltéra plays a 1675 Antonio Casini cello and the 1711 "Mari" Stradivarius. ~ Robert Cummings & Keith Finke

With a history as a broadcast orchestra stretching back to the post-World War II era, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin has also became a major concert attraction. The group has attracted an international set of chief conductors and has often added contemporary works to its repertory.

Ultimately responsible for the orchestra's founding was the government of the American military occupation in West Berlin, which established the RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) broadcaster in 1946. The radio station in turn assembled an orchestra that by 1948 was well established and had hired its first permanent conductor, the Hungarian Ferenc Fricsay. He remained in his post until 1954. The orchestra underwent a period of instability in the mid-'50s as West and East Berlin dealt with forced cultural separation. It was renamed the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1956 and became the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in 1993, after German reunification. Fricsay returned from 1959 to 1963, often programming the music of Bartók and doing much to foster that composer's international popularity. His successors included the American Lorin Maazel (1964-1975), the Italian Riccardo Chailly (1982-1989), and the Russian-Icelandic Vladimir Ashkenazy (1989-1999); with the exception of Ingo Metzmacher (2007-2010), none of the orchestra's principal conductors has been German. The orchestra's leaders in the modern era have also included the American contemporary music specialist Kent Nagano (2000-2006), the Russian Tugan Sokhiev (2012-2016), and as of 2017, the Briton Robin Ticciati.

The orchestra still broadcasts on the radio but offers a full concert season, mostly at the Philharmonie in Berlin. Its recording catalog is large and includes a 2011 recording of music by Kaija Saariaho, conducted by Nagano, that won a Grammy award. Ticciati led the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in a performance of Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 in A major released on Scotland's Linn label in 2019; the orchestra has also recorded for CPO, Sony Classical, Capriccio, and other labels. ~ James Manheim

Conductor Thomas Dausgaard, while developing a broad repertory that has taken in music from most periods, is associated with the works of composers from his native Denmark, as well as those from elsewhere in Scandinavia. He has devoted most of his recording activity to works by composers from Denmark and Sweden -- mostly contemporary ones -- and has held important conducting posts in both countries and beyond.

Dausgaard was born on July 4, 1963, in Copenhagen. He studied music at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and later at the Royal College of Music, London. After holding minor posts and freelancing as a conductor in Scandinavia in his early career, Dausgaard received his first major appointment in 1997, that of principal conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra; he remained in that post until 2019. Dausgaard made his recording debut in 1995 on a recording of composer Friedrich Ludwig Aemilius Kunzen's opera Holger Dansk on the Dacapo label. He led the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra on the 1998 album Bach to the Future, a Chandos release containing the title work by Nørgård and various pieces by other composers. In 2001, Dausgaard debuted at the Proms in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and went on to conduct many orchestras in the U.K., including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony orchestras. Also in 2001, Dausgaard added a second prestigious post when he accepted the appointment as principal guest conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He served in that capacity until 2004 when he was elevated to that ensemble's principal conductor, the first Dane to hold that position; Dausgaard was named honorary conductor in 2011 as he stepped down from his position with the Danish National Symphony.

In 2006, Dacapo released a recording of Langgaard's opera Antikrist, conducted by Dausgaard. He issued a recording on BIS in 2007 of Dvorák's Symphonies No. 6 and No. 9 with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Dausgaard conducted both the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Danish National Symphony at the 2010 Proms. He became the principal guest conductor for the Seattle Symphony in 2014, adding the role of music director with the orchestra in 2019. He stepped down from that post in 2022 due to what he called a hostile work environment.

Dausgaard added to his busy schedule in 2016 when he took over the post of chief conductor with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; he remained in that post until 2022. Along with performing the standard repertory, Dausgaard's concert programs are replete with names like Bent Sørensen, Johan Svendsen, and Dag Wirén, but particularly Rued Langgaard, Per Nørgård, and Asger Hamerik. In fact, Dausgaard has recorded highly praised extensive multi-disc sets devoted to the orchestral works of the latter three composers. He has regularly toured the major cities of Europe with his ensembles and has guest-conducted some of the leading American orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra.

Dausgaard has amassed a sizable discography, with his recordings appearing on a variety of labels. For all his devotion to Scandinavian music, though, Dausgaard has also received lavish critical praise for his series for the Simax label of the complete orchestral works of Beethoven. He was heard on several recordings in 2020, including Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 with the Bergen Philharmonic and two symphonies by Carl Nielsen with the Seattle Symphony. In 2024, Dausgaard became the principal guest conductor of Spain's RTVE Symphony Orchestra and the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. ~ TiVo Staff