Franz von Suppe                      Light Cavalry Overture

Johann Strauß II                       Light of Heart, Op. 319  

Josef Strauß                          The Dragonfly, Op. 204

Johann Strauß II                       Artist’s Life, Op.316

Johann Strauß II                       Tik Tak, Op. 365

Johann Strauß II                       Farmers Polka, Op. 276 

Johann Strauß II                       Roses From the South, Op. 388 

                                                                              

Intermission

 

G.Rossini                           Guillaume Tell Overture

Johann Strauß II                      Thunder and Lightning, Op. 324

Johann Strauß II                      Voices of Spring, Op. 410

Johann Strauß II                      Perpetual Motion, Op. 257

Johann Strauß II                      In Krapfen’s Woods, Op. 336

Josef Strauß                         Music of the Spheres, Op. 235

 

Please check program updates at the concert.

As Vienna’s cultural ambassador and premier concert orchestra, the Wiener Symphoniker handles the lion’s share of symphonic activity that makes up the musical life of the Austrian capital. The preservation of the traditional, Viennese orchestral sound occupies a central place in the orchestra’s various artistic pursuits. 

The end of the nineteenth century was precisely the right time to establish a new Viennese orchestra for the purpose of presenting orchestral concerts with broad appeal, on the one hand, and to meet the need for first performances and premieres of contemporary works, on the other. In October 1900, the newly formed Wiener Concertverein, as it was called back then, gave its first public performance at the Vienna Musikverein with Ferdinand Löwe on the podium. The Wiener Symphoniker has premiered works that are now undisputed staples of the orchestral repertoire, including Anton Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, Arnold Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder, Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, and Franz Schmidt’s The Book with Seven Seals. 

 

 

Over the course of its history, conducting greats like Bruno Walter, Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Oswald Kabasta, George Szell and Hans Knappertsbusch have left an indelible mark on the orchestra. In later decades, Herbert von Karajan (1950-1960) and Wolfgang Sawallisch (1960-1970) were the Chief Conductors who moulded the sound of the orchestra most significantly. After the brief return of Josef Krips, the position of Chief Conductor was filled by Carlo Maria Giulini and Gennadij Roshdestvensky. Georges Prêtre was Chief Conductor from 1986 to 1991. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Vladimir Fedoseyev then assumed leadership of the orchestra. Fabio Luisi assumed the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director at the start of the 2005-06 season, his successor in 2014-15 will be Philippe Jordan.

Leading lights who have enjoyed notable success as guests on the podium of the Wiener Symphoniker include Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado and Sergiu Celibidache. 

The Wiener Symphoniker appears in more than 150 concerts and operatic performances per season, the vast majority of which take place in Vienna’s well-known concert venues, the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus. Added to that is a very busy and extensive touring schedule. 

Since 1946, the Wiener Symphoniker has been the orchestra in residence at the Bregenz Festival, where it also plays the majority of operatic and symphonic performances. The orchestra also took on a new challenge at the beginning of 2006: That’s when the Theater an der Wien became a functioning opera house again, and the orchestra has been responsible for a significant number of productions ever since. 

 

 

 

Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola became Music Director of the Orchestre National d’Ile de France (ONDIF) at the beginning of the 2012/13 season. Among the most dynamic artists of his generation, he is an expert interpreter of bel canto opera and specializes in the classical and early romantic periods.

Plans for the 2014/15 season include debuts at Zurich Opera and Olso Opera (Barbiere di Siviglia) and returns to Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Brussels and London Philharmonic Orchestras. He also returns to Deutsche Oper Berlin (Dinorah in concert) to make his debut at the Philharmonie, Berlin. Projects with ONDIF include a special Philip Glass programme at Citéde la Musique, as well as numerous concerts at the new Philharmonie de Paris–where ONDIF will be Orchestre Associé–and collaborations with eminent soloists such as Cedric Tiberghien, Stéphanie D’Oustrac and world-renowned DJ Jeff Mills. Future plans include re-invitations to Zurich, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Glyndebourne as well as debuts at the Metropolitan Opera (NYC) and Lyric Opera, Chicago.

Highlights in recent seasons include many highly successful débuts, notably Royal Scottish National Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Oslo Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Vienna Symphony, PFK Prague Philharmonia, Scottish Chamber, New Japan Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He recently conducted the closing concert of Festival de Radio France et Montpellier with the Montpellier National Orchestra.

Opera engagements include Theatre des Champs-Elysées (Tancredi), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Barber of Seville, Le Vaisseau fantome) Bolshoi Theatre (La sonnambula) and a new production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at the Glyndebourne Festival. Other productions include Glyndebourne Festival and Tour (La Cenerentola, L’elisir d’amore), Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (L’italiana in Algeri), Opera de Nice (L’elisir d’amore), New National Theatre Tokyo (Don Giovanni), Opera du Rhin (Macbeth), Orchestre National de France at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Don Pasquale), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Barbiere di Siviglia, Falstaff) and Teatro alla Scala (Don Pasquale).

He has conducted major European festivals, including an acclaimed new production of Falstaff at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, La scala di seta at Festival de Saint Denis, München Opernfestspiele, Festival de Radio France; Rossini Opera Festival, Biennale of Venice, Wexford Opera Festival, Festival de Granada, and the Buxton Festival. Between 1999 and 2003 he was the Artistic and Music Director of the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano, where he conducted many symphonic concerts and new operatic productions with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra.

An accomplished interpreter of contemporary music he has conducted several premieres with  ONDIF. He conducted the world premiere of Colla’s Il processo at La Scala, Il re nudo by Luca Lombardi at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Medusa by Arnaldo De Felice at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Isabella by Azio Corghi at the Rossini Opera Festival, and many other premieres with major European orchestras. In 2014 he was nominated for a Golden Mask Award for “Best Conductor” of La sonnambula at the Bolshoi.