The Orchestre Symphonique Bienne delivers two more gems: a studio recording of Siegfried-Idyll in its original version for chamber orchestra and excerpts of the first-ever video recording of the work in the venue of its world première, the Tribschen villa in Switzerland. Richard Strauss came to Switzerland for a different kind of exile. The privations of post-war life in Bavaria led Strauss to cross the border into the land where there was ample food, excellent healthcare, plus rich patrons with a hard currency. He soon signed a contract with Boosey and Hawkes for several new works. One of these was an Oboe Concerto, apparently prompted in mid-1945 by his meeting with John de Lancie, an American oboist-turned-GI who was stationed at Garmisch. The Orchestre Symphonique Bienne was founded in 1969. Its activities centre on its series of symphony concerts in Bienne (Switzerland), and in recent years it has specialized in the repertoire of the Viennese Classics and the early Romantics. From 2005 to 2011, Thomas Rösner was the chief conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique Bienne. Howard Griffiths took over the artistic direction of the orchestra in summer 2011.
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