Philadelphia Orchestra

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Philadelphia Orchestra
Orchestra
Philadelphia orchestra logo.png
Founded 1900
Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Concert hall
Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Music director Yannick Nzet-Sguin
Website www.philorch.org
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelp
hia, Pennsylvania. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is b
ased at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscri
ption concerts, numbering over 130 annually, in Verizon Hall.
From its founding until 2001, the Philadelphia Orchestra gave its concerts at th
e Academy of Music. The orchestra continues to own the Academy, and returns ther
e one week per year for the Academy of Music's annual gala concert and concerts
for school children. The Philadelphia Orchestra's summer home is the Mann Center
for the Performing Arts. It also has summer residencies at the Saratoga Perform
ing Arts Center, and since July 2007 at the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival in Vail,
Colorado. The orchestra also performs an annual series of concerts at Carnegie
Hall. From its earliest days the orchestra has been active in the recording stud
io, making extensive numbers of recordings, primarily for RCA Victor and Columbi
a Records.
Over its history, the orchestra has had eight music directors and one chief cond
uctor. The orchestra's current music director is Yannick Nzet-Sguin, since 2012. T
he current president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Philadelphia Orche
stra Association is Allison Vulgamore, since 2010. Charles Dutoit, chief conduct
or of the orchestra from 2008 to 2012, has the title of conductor laureate with
the orchestra.
Contents
1
History
1.1
Leadership
1.2
Recent events
1.3
Firsts
1.4
Rachmaninoff
2
Recordings
3
Music Directors
4
Performance venues
5
References
6
Further reading
7
External links
History[edit]
Leadership[edit]
Leopold Stokowski, photographed by George Grantham Bain
Yannick Nzet-Sguin at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, June 18, 2010
The orchestra was founded in 1900 by Fritz Scheel, who also acted as its first c
onductor. The orchestra had its beginnings with a small group of musicians led b
y the pianist F. Cresson Schell (18571942).[1] In 1904, Richard Strauss guest con
ducted the orchestra in a program of his compositions, and in 1906 the Polish pi
anist Artur Rubenstein made his American debut with the orchestra. Additionally
in 1906, the orchestra traveled to the White House to perform in an exclusive co
ncert.

In February 1907, Leandro Campanari took over and served as interim conductor fo
r a short time during Scheel's illness and after his death.[2] A flutist in the
orchestra, August Rodemann, had stood in before Campanari's arrival. He started
sabotaging the performances and Campanari was obliged to remove himself from a b
ad situation.[3]
In 1907, Karl Pohlig became music director and served until 1912. New music he p
rogrammed was unpopular with audiences, and revelations that he had an extra-mar
ital affair with his secretary caused outrage. The orchestra cancelled his contr
act and gave him a year's salary ($12,000) in severance to avoid a suit from Poh
lig alleging a conspiracy to oust him.[3][4]
Leopold Stokowski became music director in 1912 and brought the orchestra to nat
ional prominence. Under his guidance, the orchestra gained a reputation for virt
uosity, and developed what is known as the "Philadelphia Sound." Stokowski left
the orchestra in 1941, and did not return as a guest conductor for nearly 20 yea
rs.
The Philadelphia Orchestra on stage with Stokowski for the American premiere of
Mahler's Eighth Symphony, March 2, 1916.
In 1936 Eugene Ormandy joined the organization, and jointly held the post of pri
ncipal conductor with Stokowski until 1938 when he became its sole music directo
r. He remained as music director until 1980, after which he became Conductor Lau
reate. Ormandy conducted many of the orchestra's best-known recordings and took
the orchestra on its historic 1973 tour of the People's Republic of China, where
it was the first Western orchestra to visit that country in many decades.[5] Th
e tour was highly successful and it has since returned for three additional succ
essful tours.
Riccardo Muti became principal guest conductor of the orchestra in the 1970s, an
d assumed the role as Music Director from Ormandy in 1980, serving through 1992.
His recordings with the orchestra included the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethov
en, Johannes Brahms, and Alexander Scriabin, for the EMI and Philips labels.
Wolfgang Sawallisch succeeded Muti as Music Director from 1993 to 2003. He made
a number of recordings with the orchestra of music of Robert Schumann, Richard S
trauss and Richard Wagner, among other composers, for the EMI label. However, th
e orchestra lost its recording contract with EMI during this time, which led to
a musicians' strike for 64 days in 1996.[6][7] Near the end of Sawallisch's tenu
re, the orchestra released a self-produced set of recordings of the Schumann sym
phonies with Sawallisch conducting. In 2003, Sawallisch was named Conductor Laur
eate, and held the title until his death in 2013.
In 2003, Christoph Eschenbach succeeded Sawallisch as music director. This appoi
ntment was controversial because Eschenbach had not conducted the orchestra in o
ver four years and there was a perceived lack of personal chemistry between him
and the musicians prior to the appointment.[8][9][10] At least one early report
tried to downplay this concern.[11] The orchestra returned to commercial recordi
ngs with Eschenbach, on the Ondine label. However, in October 2006, Eschenbach a
nd the orchestra announced the conclusion of his tenure as music director in 200
8, for a total of five years, the shortest tenure as music director in the histo
ry of the Philadelphia Orchestra, along with Pohlig.
In February 2007, Charles Dutoit was appointed chief conductor and artistic advi
ser for four seasons, starting in the fall of 2008 and running through the 201120
12 season.[12][13] This move was made to provide an "artistic bridge" while the
orchestra searched for its eighth music director.[13][14][15] According to news
articles from August 2007, the orchestra had now devised a search process in whi
ch each musician in the orchestra would have a say in the choice of the next Mus

ic Director.[16][17]
In December 2008, at the invitation of Dutoit,[18] Yannick Nzet-Sguin made his fir
st guest-conducting appearance with the orchestra. He returned for a second seri
es of concerts in December 2009.[19] In June 2010, Nzet-Sguin was appointed Music
Director Designate, with a scheduled duration under that title from 2010 to 2012
, with 2 weeks of scheduled appearances in the 20102011 season, and 5 weeks of sc
heduled appearances in the 20112012 season. Eventually, in 2012, he was appointed
music director, succeeding Dutoit, who subsequently was named conductor laureat
e of the orchestra. Nzet-Sguin's initial contract as music director was for 5 seas
ons, with 7 weeks of scheduled concerts in the 20122012 season, 15 weeks in the n
ext 2 seasons, and 16 weeks in the subsequent 2 seasons of his Philadelphia cont
ract.[20] In January 2015, the orchestra announced the extension of Nzet-Sguin's c
ontract to the 2021-22 season.[21][22]
Charles Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra concert in Tianjin
The Philadelphia Orchestra's current concertmaster is David Kim.[23] Past concer
tmasters have included Norman Carol and Erez Ofer. Past Associate Conductors of
the orchestra have included William Smith, Luis Biava, and Rossen Milanov.[24] T
he current principal guest conductor of the orchestra is Stphane Denve, as of the
2014-2015 season. The orchestra's conductor-in-residence is Cristian Mcelaru.[25]
The resident chorus of the orchestra is the Philadelphia Singers.
Recent events[edit]
On April 16, 2011, the Philadelphia Orchestra's board of directors voted to file
for Chapter 11 reorganization due to the organization's large operational defic
it. This was the first time that a major U.S. orchestra has filed for bankruptcy
.[26][27] Amid mounting dissent from the musicians, Nzet-Sguin volunteered in Augu
st 2011 to add a week in his 2011-2012 season appearances.[28] On July 30, 2012,
the orchestra announced that it had officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankrupt
cy protection, effective that day.[29]
Firsts[edit]
The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a number of significant media firsts. It was t
he first symphony orchestra to make electrical recordings (in 1925). It was the
first orchestra to make a commercially sponsored radio broadcast (on NBC in 1929
) and the first to appear on a national television broadcast (on CBS in 1948). T
he Philadelphia was the first American orchestra to make a digital recording of
the complete Beethoven symphonies on compact disc (in 1988), and the first major
orchestra to give a live cybercast of a concert on the internet (in 1997). In 2
006, the orchestra was the first to offer downloads of music from its own websit
e without a distributor.[30]
In other firsts, the Orchestra made diplomatic history in 1973 when it became th
e first American orchestra to tour the People's Republic of China, performing in
Beijing's Great Hall of the People. In 1999, under Wolfgang Sawallisch, it beca
me the first American orchestra to visit Vietnam. In 2006, the orchestra appoint
ed Carol Jantsch principal tuba as of 20062007,[31] the orchestra's first ever fe
male principal tuba player and the first in a full-time American orchestra.
Rachmaninoff[edit]
The Orchestra was known for its special relationship with the composer Sergei Ra
chmaninoff due primarily to Stokowski's championship. In his first season, on 3
January 1913, Stokowski conducted Isle of the Dead. Later, in an all-Rachmaninof
f programme on February 3, 1920, Stokowski gave the U.S. premiere of The Bells a
nd accompanied the composer in his 3rd Piano Concerto. In 1924 they collaborated
on an acoustically recorded 78rpm set of the 2nd Piano Concerto, re-recording i
t electrically in 1929. On March 18, 1927, Stokowski conducted the world premier
es of the Three Russian Folk Songs, of which he was the dedicatee, and the 4th P

iano Concerto, again with the composer at the keyboard. Another world premiere t
ook place on November 7, 1934 when Stokowski accompanied the composer in the Rha
psody on a Theme of Paganini, with the two musicians making its first recording
shortly afterwards.
Rachmaninoff himself also took on the role of conductor with the Philadelphia Or
chestra, recording Isle of the Dead and Vocalise with them in 1929, followed ten
years later by a 78rpm set of his 3rd Symphony, a work that Stokowski had premi
ered on November 6, 1936. In particular, he and Ormandy were also close associat
es and Rachmaninoff was supposed to have said that in his American years he comp
osed with the sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra in his head. The many recordin
gs of the music of Rachmaninoff by Ormandy were noted as being closest to the co
mposer's desire. Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, his last work, was pre
miered by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, to whom it is dedicated, on Ja
nuary 3, 1941.
Recordings[edit]
The Orchestra's first recordings were made for the Victor Talking Machine Compan
y in Camden, New Jersey, in 1917, when Leopold Stokowski conducted performances
of two of Brahms's Hungarian Dances . The historic first electrical recordings w
ere also made in Camden, in April 1925, beginning with Saint-Sans' Danse macabre.
Later, in 1926, Victor began recording the Orchestra in the Academy of Music. S
tokowski led the ensemble in experimental long-playing, high-fidelity, and even
stereophonic sessions in the early 1930s for RCA Victor and Bell Laboratories. T
hey recorded the soundtrack for Walt Disney's Fantasia in multi-track stereophon
ic sound in 1939-40.
Arturo Toscanini made a series of recordings for RCA Victor with the orchestra i
n 1941 and 1942. Due to technical problems with the masters, the recordings were
never issued on 78-rpm discs. In the 1970s, after extensive electronic editing,
all of the recordings were issued by RCA on LP and later were digitally remaste
red and issued on CD.
The Orchestra remained with RCA Victor through 1942. Following a settlement of a
recording ban imposed by the American Federation of Musicians, the Orchestra jo
ined Columbia Records in 1944, recording some of the dances from Borodin's Princ
e Igor. It returned to RCA Victor in 1968 and made its first digital recording,
Bartk's Concerto for Orchestra, in 1979. The Orchestra has also recorded for EMI
and Teldec.
In May 2005, the Philadelphia Orchestra announced a three-year recording partner
ship with the Finnish label Ondine, the Orchestra's first recording contract in
10 years. The resumption of a regular recording program was one of Christoph Esc
henbach's stated priorities as music director. A number of recordings have been
released since November 2005, to international acclaim.
On September 21, 2006 the Philadelphia Orchestra became the first major United S
tates orchestra to sell downloads of its performances directly from the orchestr
a's website. While other American orchestras had downloads of their music on the
internet, the Philadelphia Orchestra said it was the first to offer the downloa
ds without a distributor.[30] In 2010, the orchestra abandoned this practice and
formed a partnership with IODA, a digital distribution company with downloads a
vailable through a variety of online retailers, including iTunes, Amazon.com, Rh
apsody, and eMusic.
In other media, musicians from the orchestra were featured in a documentary film
by Daniel Anker, Music from the Inside Out, which received theatrical release a
nd television airings. The film has received both positive and negative criticis
m.[32][33]

Music Directors[edit]
19001907 Fritz Scheel
19081912 Karl Pohlig
19121938 Leopold Stokowski
19361980 Eugene Ormandy
19801992 Riccardo Muti
19932003 Wolfgang Sawallisch
20032008 Christoph Eschenbach
20082012 Charles Dutoit (Chief Conductor)
2012present Yannick Nzet-Sguin
Performance venues[edit]
Academy of Music, the orchestra's home, 19002001.
Mann Center for the Performing Arts, the orchestra's summer home since 1976.
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (opened 2001), Verizon Hall is the orchest
ra's current home.
Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, the orchestra's s
ummer residency since the venue first opened in 1966.
References[edit]
^ "The World of Music". The Etude. March 1921. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ "Campanari at Rehearsal". The New York Times. February 18, 1907. Retrieved 201
3-07-19.
^ a b Daniel Grotta-Kurska (June 1974). "Music: Is There a Maestro in the Wings?
". Philadelphia. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ "Carl Pohlig Got $12,000". The New York Times. 12 June 1912. Retrieved 2013-07
-19.
^ Daniel Webster (1 February 2008). "Learning Chinese". Playbill Arts. Retrieved
2008-02-02.
^ Allan Kozinn (17 September 1996). "Strike in Philadelphia: What Stopped the Mu
sic". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ Anthony Tomassini (28 November 1996). "Philadelphians, After Strike, Offer a V
iolinist's Debut". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ Doreen Carvajal (6 February 2001). "Musicians Are Gaining Bigger Voice In Orch
estras". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
^ Dobrin, Peter (29 October 2006). "Orchestra has some lessons to consider". The
Philadelphia Inquirer.
^ Anthony Tomassini (23 November 2006). "Conductor Under Fire, Orchestra Under P
ressure". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
^ Peter Culshaw (18 May 2004). "Chemistry lessons". The Daily Telegraph. Retriev
ed 2013-07-19.
^ Tom Di Nardo (23 February 2007). "Charles Dutoit to head orchestra". Philadelp
hia Daily News. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ a b Peter Dobrin (3 March 2007). "Positivity on the podium". The Philadelphia
Inquirer. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ Daniel J. Wakin (24 February 2007). "The Philadelphia Orchestra Names a Chief
Conductor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
^ Peter Dobrin (25 February 2007). "Which Dutoit will show up?". The Philadelphi
a Inquirer. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ Peter Dobrin (5 August 2007). "A measured search for one to yield the baton".
The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
^ Kevin Shihoten (6 August 2007). "Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians to Have Bigg
er Say in Director Search". Playbill Arts. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
^ Arthur Kaptainis (10 November 2007). "Dutch treat". Montreal Gazette. Retrieve
d 2010-06-19.

^ Robert Zaller (8 December 2009). "Conductor shortage? Where?". Broad Street Re

view. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
^ Peter Dobrin (14 June 2010). "Canada's 'rising star' to be Phila. maestro". Th
e Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
^ "Yannick Nzet-Sguin Extends Tenure as Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchest
ra through 2021-2022 Season" (Press release). Philadelphia Orchestra. 30 January
2015. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
^ Peter Dobrin (2015-01-30). "Philadelphia Orchestra prepares for a big ask". Ph
iladelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
^ Tom Di Nardo (2 February 2007). "Orchestra's concertmaster holds a key job". P
hiladelphia Daily News. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ David Patrick Stearns (3 June 2010). "Associate conductor's departure not a su
rprise". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
^ Peter Dobrin (2014-04-28). "New names, titles on the orchestra podium". Philad
elphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
^ Peter Dobrin (17 April 2011). "Philadelphia Orchestra's board votes to file fo
r bankruptcy". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ "Philadelphia Orchestra board OKs Chapter 11 filing". Bloomberg Businessweek.
Associated Press. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ "Music Director Designate Yannick Nzet-Sguin steps forward to increase his time
with The Philadelphia Orchestra and its audiences" (Press release). Philadelphia
Orchestra. 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2011-08-22.
^ "The Philadelphia Orchestra Association Officially Emerges from Chapter 11 Eff
ective July 30, 2012" (Press release). The Philadelphia Orchestra. 30 July 2012.
Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ a b David Patrick Stearns (21 September 2006). "Philadelphia Orchestra enters
the ear-bud age". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ Peter Dobrin (26 February 2006). "Breaking the brass ceiling: A female tubist"
. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ Joshua Kosman (30 December 2005). "Documentary gets behind the music made by o
rchestral musicians". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
^ David Patrick Stearns (20 April 2005). "The orchestra with no discord". The Ph
iladelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
Further reading[edit]
Jacobson, Bernard (2015). Star Turns and Cameo Appearances. Rochester, NY: Unive
rsity of Rochester Press. pp. 178-208. ISBN 978-1-58046-541-0[1]
Ardoin, John (1999). The Philadelphia Orchestra: A Century of Music. Philadelphi
a: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-712-X.
Kupferberg, Herbert (1969). Those Fabulous Philadelphians. New York: C. Scribner
's Sons. ISBN 0-491-00394-3. OCLC 28276.
Kurnick, Judith K (1992). Riccardo Muti: Twenty Years in Philadelphia. Philadelp
hia: Philadelphia Orchestra. ISBN 0-8122-1445-5. OCLC 25883790.
Clark, Sedgwick (2003). The Philadelphia Orchestra Celebrates Sawallisch 19932003
. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Orchestra.
Marion, John Francis (1984). Within These Walls: A History of the Academy of Mus
ic in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Academy of Music/Philadelphia Orchestra. OCLC
11404370.
Peralta, Phyllis (2006). Philadelphia Maestros: Ormandy, Muti, Sawallisch. Phila
delphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-487-4.
External links[edit]
Portal icon
Philadelphia portal
Philadelphia Orchestra Official website
The Philadelphia Singers Official website
The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Ondine label
Philadelphia Orchestra at AllMusic
Philadelphia Orchestra at Art of the States
Philadelphia Orchestra on NPR, Includes commentary by Christopher Eschenbach on
the nine Beethoven symphonies for NPR's Performance Today from 2006.
Finding aid to the Philadelphia Orchestra 1966 Latin American Tour collection Ms
. Coll. 929 at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries

v t e
Big Five American orchestras
New York Philharmonic (1842) Boston Symphony Orchestra (1881) Chicago Symphony O
rchestra (1891) Philadelphia Orchestra (1900) Cleveland Orchestra (1918)
v t e
Philadelphia Orchestra Music Directors
Fritz Scheel (19001907) Karl Pohlig (19081912) Leopold Stokowski (19121938) Eugene
Ormandy (19361980) Riccardo Muti (19801992) Wolfgang Sawallisch (19932003) Christop
h Eschenbach (20032008) Charles Dutoit (Chief Conductor, 20082012) Yannick Nzet-Sgui
n (2012present)
Authority control
VIAF: 149065320 GND: 801194-1 SUDOC: 079000525 BNF: cb139057755 (data) MusicBrai
nz: ff3fcff7-6c85-49d6-b954-ed7011a44e5a
^ Jacobson, Bernard (2015). Star Turns and Cameo Appearances. Rochester, NY: Uni
versity of Rochester Press. pp. 178208. ISBN 978-1-58046-541-0.
Categories: American orchestrasMusical groups established in 1900Musical groups
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania1900 establishments in PennsylvaniaOrchestras bas
ed in Pennsylvania
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