When Sylvain Cambreling took up his position at the Südwestrundfunk broadcasting corporation in 1999, he knew only too well that he was the successor to charismatic colleagues such as Hans Rosbaud, Ernest Bour and Michael Gielen, and did not have to be told that the orchestra’s tradition was not geared towards providing wellness experiences for hedonistic listeners. He had been engaged because his programmes were daring, informative, suggestive, epoch-spanning, always a bit brushed the wrong way and disconcerting, reflecting his approach to music as “intellectually stimulating material” that declines to follow the well-beaten tracks of programming. He met with an orchestra that was young, efficient and enthusiastic, and whose members were eager to fulfil the task the broadcasting corporation had set them, namely to demonstrate a strong commitment to new music.

Cambreling was, and still is, enormously hard-working, curious about anything new and complex, possessing a peerless versatility, and blessed with skills as a great communicator, making him the ideal fit for this orchestra and its undertakings. Critical accolades, particularly from the foreign press, regularly (and with some envy) focus on both the qualities and possibilities of the orchestra and the clearly reliable sponsorship it receives from the broadcasting corporation. Just as reliable have been the invitations received from Salzburg, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon, Lucerne, and Aix-en-Provence.

For someone as industrious as Cambreling, statistics possibly say it all. To this day, for example, he has conducted nearly 120 operas and some 1,000 symphonic/concertante works, a feat probably not matched by any other conductor.