of Dresden's famed musical culture. As early as 1871 it gave concerts in St. Petersburg and in 1909 made a historic tour of the United States. More recently, the Philharmonie has toured China, Japan, and, for the first time in 1992, South America. The Philharmonie musicians have an expansive repertoire encompassing the Standard orchestral classics and numerous Contemporary works. The Orchestra is especially known for its programming of unusual and innovative repertoire as well as for its concert performances of choral music and opera. It has made many recordings, which during the last 10 years have included the complete Beethoven symphonies, Britten's War Requiem, Schoenberg's "Gurrelieder," and works of Berlioz, Dvorak, Hindemith, Martin, Men delssohn, Mozart, and Saint-Saens, among others.