National Symphony Orchestra

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the National Symphony Orchestra Ghana see there.

The National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center , 2009

The National Symphony Orchestra ( NSO ), founded in 1931, is an American orchestra based in Washington, DC It predominantly plays in the Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts .

Foundation, history

Several attempts to found a symphony orchestra in Washington DC failed. For example, the Washington Philharmonic only existed for a year, around the turn of the century, and the Washington Symphony Orchestra , founded by composer Reginald De Koven in 1902, discontinued in 1905, briefly revived in 1907, did not survive long. As a result, when some musicians from the federal capital got together and gave a concert on January 31, 1930 as The National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, DC , many doubted the possibility of institutionalization.

Margaret Truman and the NSO in Constitution Hall , November 27, 1949

However, the first regular season 1931/32 of the NSO already comprised 24 concerts, today the ensemble plays 175 concerts a year. In the early years of its existence, the NSO played in the DAR Constitution Hall . Under the direction of the first chief conductor Hans Kindler, the musicians received a weekly fee of US $ 40, each for three rehearsals and one concert. The playing time lasted five months and that is how long the musicians were paid. The first female member of the orchestra was the harpist Sylvia Meyer, who was accepted into the NSO in 1933.

Kennedy Center site map

In 1971 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was opened, a huge structure on the Potomac with three large halls. The largest, with 2,442 seats, is the Concert Hall , one of the largest concert halls in the world.The arrangement of the podium, organ and seats is based on the structure of many European concert halls - for example the Great Hall of the Mozarteum in Salzburg or the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein . The Opera House , located in the middle of the building complex, has around 2,300 seats, while the Eisenhower Theater , which is mainly used for speaking pieces and musicals, has 1,136. The NSO inaugurated its new concert hall on September 9, 1971 with a concert conducted by the ensemble's third chief conductor, Antal Doráti . Since then, the orchestra's concert series have taken place in the Kennedy Center. In 1986 the partnership between the orchestra and the venue was restructured and the NSO became an Artistic Affiliate of the Kennedy Center.

Since 2010, the German conductor Christoph Eschenbach chief conductor of the orchestra since 2011 acts Steven Reineke as Principal Pops Conductor of the orchestra. The Canadian organ builder Casavant Frères designed and constructed a new organ in 2012. The $ 2 million cost of the new instrument was personally paid for by David Rubenstein , Chairman of the Kennedy Center.

Gianandrea Noseda , who first conducted the orchestra in 2011, was appointed as Eschenbach's successor in January 2016. His contract initially runs for four seasons. After his contract expires in the summer of 2017, Eschenbach will be appointed Conductor Laureate .

The double bassist Harold Robinson (in the NSO 1985–1995) is one of the well-known former orchestra members .

Duties of the orchestra

First Lady Nancy Reagan conducts the NSO, March 27, 1987

The National Symphony Orchestra played for the first time in 1932 in the inauguration of an American President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt , and took on this role also in subsequent inaugurations - except in 1972, the inauguration of the second term of Richard Nixon , who invited the Philadelphia Orchestra to do so . The orchestra is also used for a number of state receptions and other official occasions.

Chief conductor

1931–1949: Hans Kindler 1949-1969: Howard Mitchell 1970–1977: Antal Doráti 1978–1994: Mstislaw Rostropowitsch

1996-2008: Leonard Slatkin 2006–2009: Iván Fischer (first guest conductor) 2010–2017: Christoph Eschenbach from 2017: Gianandrea Noseda

Evidence for the appointments of the chief conductors:

Other important conductors

Vladimir Ashkenazy Jiří Bělohlávek James Conlon Stéphane Denève Christoph von Dohnányi

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos James Gaffigan Vadim Gluzman Jesús López Cobos Lorin Maazel

James MacMillan Kurt Masur Anne Akiko Meyers Helmuth Rilling Nikolaj Znaider

Recordings (selection)

A complete list of all audio files from the NSO can be found on its website.

• Bernstein : An American Songfest . With Clamma Dale, Rosalind Elias , Nancy Williams, Neil Rosenshein, John Reardon , Donald Gramm. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein. Deutsche Gramophon 2531 044; 415 965-2.1977.
• Mussorgsky : Boris Godunov . With Ruggero Raimondi (Boris Godunow), Catherine Dubosc (Xenia), Vyacheslav Polozov (Mönch), Paul Plishka (Pimen), Kenneth Riegel (Schuiski), Romuald Tesarowicz (Warlaam), Galina Vishnevskaja ( Marina Mnick ), Nicolai Gedda (Grigori Otrepjew ), The Oratorio Society of Washington , choir master: Robert Shafer , The Choral Arts Society of Washington, choir master: Norman Scribner , National Symphony Orchestra, conductor: Mstislaw Rostropowitsch . Recorded in 1991, Warner Music Group Germany (The Erato opera collection) 2010.

Web links

• National Symphony Orchestra , official website
• History of the National Symphony Orchestra , history of the orchestra
• National Symphony Orchestra Profile ( The NSO: 75 and Counting Its Blessings ) in the Washington Post , September 4, 2005, accessed July 30, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Tim Page: The NSO: 75 and Counting Ist Blessings , The Washington Post , September 4, 2005, accessed August 1, 2016.
2. ↑ Adam Bernstein: Esteemed NSO Harpist Sylvia Meyer . In: The Washington Post , March 30, 2005. 
3. ↑ Harold C. Schonberg : Kennedy Hall Gets Acoustics Workout . In: The New York Times , September 2, 1971. 
4. ^ Daniel J. Waken: Kennedy Center to Replace Its Pipe Organ , The New York Times , September 27, 2011, accessed August 5, 2016.
5. ^ Anne Midgette: National Symphony Orchestra names rising star Gianandrea Noseda as music director . In: The Washington Post , January 4, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016. 
6. ^ Gianandrea Noseda Named Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra . In: Kennedy Center Press Release , January 4, 2016. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016 Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved January 9, 2016.  
7. ^ Anne Midgette: Eschenbach's NSO contract to end in 2017; will become a conductor laureate . In: Washington Post , February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2015. 
8. ^ Robert Cummings: National Symphony Orchestra , AllMusic, accessed August 5, 2016.
9. ^ Anne Midgette: Christoph Eschenbach to Lead National Symphony . In: Washington Post , September 25, 2008. 
10. ^ Anne Midgette: Kennedy Center extends Eschenbach's contract; new organ in works . In: Washington Post , September 25, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2016. 
11. ↑ Christoph Eschenbach Extends Contract as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra and Kennedy Center Through the 2016-2017 Season . In: Kennedy Center Press Release , March 24, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2016. 
12. ↑ National Symphony Orchestra: National Symphony Orchestra Discography ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 5, 2016.

Coordinates: 38 ° 53 ′ 45 "  N , 77 ° 3 ′ 20"  W.