From its beginnings as an amateur group, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra evolved into an orchestra of international stature in the 1970s and '80s under conductors Edo de Waart and David Zinman. De Waart and Zinman initiated a recording program and took the orchestra on international tours. New renown came to the orchestra after the hiring of Valery Gergiev in 1995. Gergiev stepped down in 2008 in favor of Yannick Nézet-Seguin but continued as honorary conductor, as did Nézet-Seguin after his replacement in 2018 by Lahav Shani. In 2022, under Shani, the orchestra released an album featuring Kurt Weill's Symphony No. 2 and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, Op. 47.