Wiener Symphoniker

Vienna Symphony

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Vienna Symphony

Background information
Also known as VSO
Origin Vienna, Austria
Genre(s) Classical
Occupation(s) Symphony orchestra
Years active 1900-present
Website www.wiener-symphoniker.at
Members
Principal Conductor
Fabio Luisi
First Guest Conductor
Yakov Kreizberg
Former members
Founder
Ferdinand Löwe

The Vienna Symphony (German: Wiener Symphoniker) is an orchestra in Vienna, Austria.

History

In 1900, Ferdinand Löwe founded the orchestra as the Wiener Concertverein (Vienna Concert Society). In 1913 it moved into the Konzerthaus, Vienna. In 1919 it merged with the Tonkünstler Orchestra. In 1933 it acquired its current name. Despite a lull in concert attendance after the introduction of the radio during the 1920s, the orchestra survived until the invasion of Austria in 1938 and became incorporated into the German Culture Orchestras. As such, they were used for purposes of propaganda until, depleted by assignments to work in munitions factories, the orchestra closed down on September 1 1944.

Their first post-war concert occurred on September 16 1945, performing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3. Under the direction of Josef Krips, they quickly rebuilt a modern repertoire after ten years of isolation and travelled to the Bregenz Festival for the first time in the summer of 1946.

1946 marked the beginning of the tenure of maestro Herbert von Karajan who, though not principal conductor, worked with the VSO in the "Karajan Series" concerts, going on extensive tours throughout Europe and North America. In 1959 the VSO performed for Pope John XXIII at Vatican City leading up to the debut of maestro Wolfgang Sawallisch.

Sawallisch's leadership saw a tour of the United States in 1964 as well as a combined U.S.-Japan tour in 1967. It also included the re-opening of the Theater an der Wien in 1962.

Krips returned in the interim between Sawallisch's departure and the arrival of Carlo Maria Giulini as principal conductor. In the 1986, Georges Prêtre became principal guest conductor, and served until the arrival of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos as principal conductor in 1991. Vladimir Fedosejev became chief conductor in 1997 and served in the post until 2005. Since 2005, Fabio Luisi has held the post of chief conductor.

Chief conductors

See also

External links

External links

This page was last modified 18.01.2009 05:27:17

This article uses material from the article Vienna Symphony from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.