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"Superb strings, incisive brass and agile woodwinds have no difficulty at all with König’s rhythmically sharpened conducting and help to realize the conductor’s dramaturgical concept in an optimal way"
"However, the careful and precise work of the Solistes Européens Luxembourg is to be duly commended. Under the direction of Christoph König, they give the composer's scores their true dimension, which the pianist Jean Muller confirms in his generous version of the Variations"
Christoph König, is currently Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Spanish Radio Symphony Orchestra (RTVE), in Madrid, the Solistes Européens Luxembourg since 2010, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland). König is in high demand as a guest conductor around the world. Since 2010, he has conducted many prominent orchestras in North America, among them the Pittsburgh Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Houston Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Oregon Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Past and upcoming appearances include concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de Paris, Netherlands Philharmonic, Wiener Concertverein, Bournemouth Symphony, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, joining forces with the Danish National Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Dresden Philharmonic, Stuttgart Philharmonic, West Australian Symphony, and the BBC Scottish Symphony, which he led on a highly successful tour of China in 2008.
From 2009 to 2014, König was Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónicado Porto/Casa da Música, and toured with the orchestra extensively in Europe and Brazil. Between 2003 to 2006, he served as Principal Conductor of the Malmö Symphony and as Principal Guest Conductor of l’Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria.
König has also led productions at many leading opera houses—the Zurich Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theater Bonn, Semper Oper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Teatro Real, in Madrid, among others.
His 2020 recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies with the Solistes Européens Luxembourg—featured on the Rubicon label—met with wide praise. Gramophone noted that “König brings a real sense of drama to the music [of Beethoven’s Second Symphony]; the pauses crackle with anticipation, the themes are sharply characterised and everywhere the playing packs a playful punch.” Other recordings, some juxtaposed in thoughtful and creative ways, include works by Dvorak, Copland, and Ives; Schubert and Berio; and Méhul and Beethoven. König has also recorded with the BBC Scottish Symphony (Hyperion) and Malmö Symphony (DB Productions).
Born in Dresden, König grew up singing in the city’s renowned Kreuzchoir. He studied conducting, piano, and voice at the Musikhochschule Dresden and furthered his studies in masterclasses with Sergiu Celibidache before assisting Sir Colin Davis at the Sächsische Staatskapelle at the Semper Oper Dresden.
