Biography
The orchestra was founded in 1900 by Ferdinand Löwe as the Vienna Concert Society (German: Wiener Concertverein). In 1913 it moved into the Vienna Konzerthaus. 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 Mahler's Third Symphony. 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.
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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" of 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 1980s Georges Prêtre took over the maestro's podium and increased the number of concerts on the VSO's schedule as well as infused their repertoire with French music.
The early 1990s saw Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos take over as principal conductor, introducing Spanish music much as Prêtre did. Vladimir Fedosejev became principal conductor in 1997.
In October 2011, Philippe Jordan was named the orchestra's next chief conductor, effective with the 2014–2015 season,with an initial contract of 5 years In December 2016, the orchestra announced the extension of Jordan's contract as chief conductor through the 2020–2021 season. The orchestra has begun its first CD commercial cycle of recording of the Beethoven symphonies with Jordan. Jordan concluded his tenure as chief conductor at the close of the 2020–2021 season.
Marie Jacquot first guest-conducted the orchestra in 2020. In March 2023, the orchestra announced the appointment of Jacquot as its next principal guest conductor (Erste Gastdirigentin), the first female conductor to be named to the post, effective with the 2023–2024 season. In June 2023, the orchestra announced the appointment of Petr Popelka as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2024–2025 season, with an initial contract of five seasons.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.