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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

The Münchner Philharmoniker (Munich Philharmonic) is an orchestra with a troubled past but a bright future. Tainted by its association with Nazism during World War II, the orchestra was led in the early 1980s by the notoriously mercurial Sergiu Celibidache. Although it had roots stretching back to the beginning of the 19th century, the Munich Philharmonic really began in 1893 with establishment of the Kaim Orchestra, founded by a private donor of that name. During World War I, the orchestra foundered, and after the war it was taken over by Munich's city government and given the Münchner Philharmoniker name. Under conductor Hans Pfitzner in the 1920s the orchestra improved, but in the 1930s it began using a swastika logo and billed itself as the orchestra of fascism. Once again, the group had to rebuild after World War II, with Rudolf Kempe among the conductors who raised it to international stature. A key event in the orchestra's history was the elevation of Sergiu Celibidache to the music directorship in 1979; his leadership had both positive (his interpretations were novel and rigorously rehearsed) and negative impacts (he became embroiled in an expensive and ultimately successful sex discrimination lawsuit filed by American trombonist Abbie Conant, who had won her place in a blind audition). Celibidache also declined to make recordings, believing the concert experience could not be duplicated. That situation changed slowly in the 21st century with prominent new music directors after Celibidache's death. These have included James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, and, since 2014, Valery Gergiev, who has recorded several albums and used the orchestra as a showcase for his instrumental-music thinking in large late Romantic works, including the symphonies of Mahler. Gergiev and the orchestra have embarked on a cycle of Anton Bruckner's symphonies; their recording of the Symphony No. 1 in C minor appeared in 2018 on the orchestra's own label. Since 1985, the orchestra's home has been Munich's handsome Gasteig Culture Center. ~ James Manheim

Christoph Eschenbach overcame the most difficult of circumstances to become one of the finest pianists and conductors of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He has performed throughout the world, recorded dozens of albums, and has won several awards and prizes. Since 2017, Eschenbach has served as the chief conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. In 2022, he led the WDR Symphony Orchestra in backing soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller on the album Sinnbild: Strauss Songs.

Eschenbach was born Christoph Ringmann on February 20, 1940, in Breslau, Germany. He was orphaned at a young age: his mother died in childbirth, and his father, musicologist Heribert Ringmann, was killed in battle during World War II. His adoptive grandmother was then killed while trying to extract him and herself from the path of the Allied armies. Fortunately, his mother's cousin, Wallydore Eschenbach, tracked him down after the war and adopted him from the refugee camp that would likely have claimed his life. It is from her side of the family that he eventually took his better-known surname. Eschenbach began studying piano at the age of eight, taught by his adoptive mother. She quickly realized his talents and enrolled him in the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik, where he studied both piano and conducting. He won first prize in the 1952 Steinway Piano Competition, and in 1962 he took second prize in the Munich International Competition. However, it was with his first prize at the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1965 that he finally made his mark. This new acknowledgment led to a London concert debut in 1966 and a prestigious debut with the Cleveland Orchestra and George Szell in 1969. Szell was impressed with his musicianship and gave him lessons in conducting, starting a close relationship that lasted until Szell's death in 1970. Eschenbach was soon essaying a wide repertory in concert tours throughout Europe and America. Notable in his programs were a large number of works from 20th century composers such as Bartók, Henze, Rihm, and Ruzicka. However, his performances of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert were considered revelatory.

Eschenbach made his conducting debut in 1972 with a performance of Bruckner's Symphony No. 3, soon followed by Verdi's La Traviata at Darmstadt in 1978. In 1979, he was named general music director of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic (through 1981). He was the permanent guest conductor, then chief conductor, of the Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra (1971-1985). In 1988, he began a significant and productive association as music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 1999. Although the orchestra was already established as one of America's finer major symphonies, Eschenbach improved its standards, heightened its international reputation, and broadened its repertory. He also formed the Houston Symphony Chamber Players from its ranks. Eschenbach conducted the Houston Symphony in recordings on the Koch International, Virgin, and RCA Red Seal labels, among others. These included standard fare such as some highly regarded Brahms and Tchaikovsky recordings and all of the major Mozart wind concertos. He and the Houston Symphony also recorded Kurt Weill's The Rise and Fall of the City Mahagonny Suite, Tobias Picker's The Encantadas, and the violin concertos of John Adams and Philip Glass.

Eschenbach was the co-artistic director of the Pacific Music Festival, along with Michael Tilson Thomas (1991-1998), and the artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival (1999-2003). He has served as the music director for the Ravinia Festival, the summer outdoor season of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1994-2005), Orchestre de Paris (2000-2010), the Philadelphia Orchestra (2003-2008), and the National Symphony Orchestra (2010-2017). He was also the principal conductor of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra of Hamburg (1998-2004). In 2017, Eschenbach was named the chief conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin; after a contract extension, he was expected to conclude his tenure there following the 2022-2023 season.

Eschenbach has recorded for many major labels, including Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, and Ondine. Highlights of his recording output include Elgar & Schnittke: Viola Concertos (2009), The Best of Lang Lang (2010), and Remembering JFK - 50th Anniversary Concert (2011). In 2019, he conducted the Konzerthausorchester Berlin with Cameron Carpenter on a Sony Classical album of music by Rachmaninoff and Poulenc. Leading the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Eschenbach backed soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller on the album Sinnbild: Strauss Songs. ~ TiVo Staff