Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an orchestra from Pennsylvania in the USA and is one of the so-called Big Five .
It was founded in 1900 by Fritz Scheel , who was also the first conductor. He was followed by Karl Pohlig in 1907 . Leopold Stokowski , who had been chief conductor since 1912, made the orchestra famous.
In 1938 Eugene Ormandy became the orchestra's chief conductor. He remained connected to the orchestra for over 40 years until 1980 and made many of the most famous recordings with it.
Ormandy was followed by Riccardo Muti (1981–1992) and Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993–2003), who had previously been General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich for many years. From 2003 to 2008 Christoph Eschenbach was chief conductor of the orchestra. From 2008 to 2012 the Philadelphia Orchestra was directed by Charles Dutoit .
On records (especially from RCA ), the orchestra sometimes appeared as Robin Hood Dell Orchestra due to other recording contracts in the 1940s to 60s .
In the 2009/2010 season, only 74 percent of the tickets were sold; the orchestra was on the verge of bankruptcy. 13 million of the $ 15 million needed to save the orchestra was donated; in September 2010 the William Penn Foundation donated $ 4.5 million. In April 2011, the orchestra management applied for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of US bankruptcy law due to insolvency. According to the company, the structural deficit had grown to around US $ 14.5 million.
The Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been the orchestra's music director since the 2012/2013 season .
Its headquarters are at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Web links
Coordinates: 39 ° 56 '48 .1 " N , 75 ° 9' 56.1" W.