In September 2016, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra of the SWR merged with the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg and formed the new SWR Symphonieorchester which is headquartered in Stuttgart.

The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1945 and in the following seven decades developed as one of the most important musical ambassadors of Germany. It performed around 80 concerts per season in the SWR broadcasting area, in addition to national and international guest performances and performances at worldwide music festivals. The Stuttgart RSO focused on one hand towards the large classical and romantic repertoire that is represented by exemplary performances, and, on the other hand, towards contemporary music and rare musical works, including little-known composers. The sponsorship of young artists also belonged to the Stuttgart RSO undertakings, as well as the development of sophisticated music for a younger audience.

World-renowned conductors, as well as some of the world’s greatest soloists, have been guests of the Stuttgart RSO, including: Carlos Kleiber, Ferenc Fricsay, Karl Böhm, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Knappertsbusch, Sir Georg Solti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Kurt Sanderling, Gary Bertini and Herbert Blomstedt, as well as Maria Callas, Mstisław Rostropowitsch, Maurizio Pollini, Yehudi Menuhin, Alfred Brendel, Hélène Grimaud, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Elina Garanča, Rolando Villazon, Hilary Hahn, Sol Gabetta und Lang Lang.

Sir Roger Norrington has been the principal conductor of the Stuttgart RSO from 1998 to 2011 and its Conductor Laureate after 2011. Norrington has succeeded in giving the orchestra its unmistakable image through the use of historically informed performances coupled with the implementation of the resources of a modern symphony orchestra. His work emphasises the symphonic cycles of works by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, and Elgar. Hans Müller-Kray and Carl Schuricht made their marks as the first conductors of the Stuttgart RSO. From 1972 to 1982, Sergiu Celibidache was the creative director. Through his intensive and evocative rehearsals, he developed a new sound that would characterise and capture the ambiance of the moment, a way of performing that would set standards for many years and that led the Stuttgart RSO to become one of the world’s finest orchestras.

Sir Neville Marriner und Gianluigi Gelmetti were principal conductors of the Stuttgart RSO in the 1980s and 1990s. Georges Prêtre took over creative direction in 1996. From 2011 until 2016 Stéphane Denève has led the Stuttgart RSO as its last Principal Conductor.