Philharmonia Zurich

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Philharmonia Zurich is the name of the orchestra in the Zurich Opera House . In 1985, following the separation of the traditional Tonhalle and Theater Orchestra, the Zurich Opera Orchestra was created. In 2012, when Andreas Homoki took over as artistic director and the new general music director Fabio Luisi took office, the Zurich Opera Orchestra became the Philharmonia Zurich.

history

The history of the Philharmonia Zurich is closely linked to that of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich . Opera has been played in Zurich since 1834, until 1890 in the Aktientheater an der Untere Fences, the city's first permanent theater, which burned down on New Year's Eve in 1890. Richard Wagner conducted in the early 1850s in Aktientheater, including performances of his own operas The Flying Dutchman and Tannhauser . He had the orchestra strengthened for his performances, and even from 30 to 70 musicians for a concert. In 1851 Wagner wrote the essay Ein Theater in Zürich , in which he formulated reform proposals for Zurich's musical life, which, however, initially could not be implemented. In 1853 he directed the first Wagner Festival in the stock theater within the framework of the AMG General Music Society.

Blankette of a registered share for 100 francs of the Tonhalle Society Zurich, year of issue approx. 1890

In 1861 the Orchesterverein was founded in Zurich, a first permanent professional ensemble (31 musicians), which had to play for the general music society (in the casino, today's jury) and for the stock theater. In 1867 the Swiss Music Festival took place in Zurich. For this purpose, the old Kornhaus (at the location of today's opera house) was converted into a Tonhalle. The Tonhalle Society was founded in 1868; she replaced the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft as an orchestra holder.

The orchestra experienced highlights in the newly built Great Tonhalle Hall in 1895 under the direction of its first chief conductor Friedrich Hegar and his friend Johannes Brahms . An intensive collaboration with the composer Ferruccio Busoni followed under the later Tonhalle chief conductor Volkmar Andreae . In the Stadttheater (built in 1891) it was artistic personalities like Richard Strauss and the young Wilhelm Furtwängler who helped shape the orchestra's path. Richard Strauss conducted and saw many performances of his stage works in Zurich. First performances by composers ostracized in Germany and Austria during the Nazi regime took place at the Stadttheater Zürich, such as Lulu von Alban Berg (1937) and Mathis the painter by Paul Hindemith (1938). Many other important musical theater works of the 20th century were also premiered at the Zurich Opera House (this is the name of the city theater since 1964). The Zurich City Theater was also one of the leading international theaters in the operetta genre, especially at the time of discrimination against the numerous Jewish composers in this genre such as Ralph Benatzky , Oscar Straus , Paul Abraham and Emmerich Kálmán .

In 1944, the SRG (then “Swiss Broadcasting Society”) disbanded its Zurich-based radio orchestra. Under the initiative of Adolf Lüchinger, then Mayor of Zurich, the entire radio orchestra was incorporated into the Tonhalle Orchestra on December 1, 1944. The orchestra, which now consists of 142 musicians (in 1946 a woman was signed as a violinist for the first time, in 1968 there were 15 musicians) was divided into a concert and theater formation and was henceforth called Tonhalle- und Theaterorchester TTO Zürich. This was followed by contractual regulation of the employment relationships (collective employment contracts 1947, 1954, 1965) and the use of the orchestra between the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft and Theater AG as well as the establishment of the orchestra management and the joint commission.

Highlights in the history of the TTO's theater formation are the Monteverdi and Mozart cycles since the 1970s with Nikolaus Harnoncourt (musical director) and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (director). In addition, conductors such as Ferdinand Leitner (chief musical director at the Zurich Opera House from 1969 to 1984) and Nello Santi (music director from 1958 to 1969, thereafter permanent guest conductor) shaped the orchestra in the opera house.

Bottlenecks in scheduling and the century-old wish of the Tonhalle Society and Zurich Opera House for program independence led to the dissolution of the articles of association of the two institutes in 1985 and the separation of the TTO into the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and the Zurich Opera Orchestra. This separation stood against the background of the renovation of the opera house in 1984 and the previous heated debate on cultural policy in Zurich, which had led to youth riots in the city in 1980.

The Zurich Opera Orchestra, which has been independent since then, is the only exclusively theater orchestra in Switzerland. Under his musical chief Ralf Weikert (in this position from 1985 to 1992), the former theater formation of the TTO was continuously enlarged (Weikert took part in a total of 86 auditions as chief conductor), and the orchestra expanded its range of tasks with the Philharmonic concerts, which included around six Take place once a year.

Within the orchestra, the La Scintilla ensemble was formed in 1994 , dedicated to historically informed performance practice on original instruments. Soon these activities were expanded and integrated into the orchestra service, so that today the Zurich Opera House has a special ensemble on old instruments, which works with important conductors of the field such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, William Christie , Christopher Hogwood , Giovanni Antonini and others. a. m. cooperates.

Alexander Pereira , director of the Zurich Opera House from 1991 to 2012, was particularly committed to promoting and promoting the orchestra. Franz Welser-Möst worked from 1995 to 2008 as chief conductor (from 2005 as general music director) and helped the opera house and its orchestra to gain international renown. Opernwelt magazine voted the orchestra “Orchestra of the Year 2001” in its critics' survey.

Many DVD productions, based on TV recordings, document Pereira's time as director. Guest conductors such as Riccardo Chailly , Christoph von Dohnányi , Vladimir Fedoseyev , John Eliot Gardiner , Valery Gergiev , Bernard Haitink , Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Heinz Holliger , Zubin Mehta , Ingo Metzmacher , Georges Prêtre , Nello Santi, Ralf Weikert and Ivan as well as Ádám Fischer have worked with since then the orchestra. Daniele Gatti was chief conductor from 2009 to 2012.

Chief Conductor or General Music Director

  • 1985–1992: Ralf Weikert
  • 1995–2008: Franz Welser-Möst
  • 2009–2012: Daniele Gatti
  • since 2012: Fabio Luisi

Orchestra academy

In addition to their artistic work, the members of the Philharmonia Zurich also devote themselves to educational work. The orchestra runs an orchestra academy with 15 study places. Young musicians are prepared for their profession in a two-year training period. In addition, there is a collaboration with the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, which gives students the opportunity to receive practical lessons as volunteers in the Philharmonia Zurich in the “Orchestra” master’s course.

Label Philharmonia Records

In cooperation with Opernhaus Zürich AG, the Philharmonia Zürich founded the Philharmonia Records label in 2014, which went public with its first CD and DVD productions in January 2015, on the 30th anniversary of the orchestra.

Publications

literature

  • Walter Baumann: From stock theater to opera house. In: Turicum , Winter 1984.
  • Wilhelm Bickel: 100 years of the Zurich City Theater. In: Zürcher Statistische Nachrichten 1934.
  • Hans Erismann: It started well ... Zurich 1984
  • Max Fehr: Richard Wagner's Swiss time. Aarau / Leipzig 1934.
  • Martin Hürlimann: Theater in Zurich. 125 years of the city theater. Zurich 1959.
  • Gottfried Kummer: Contributions to the history of the Zurich stock theater. Zurich 1938.
  • Eugen Müller: A heyday of the Zurich city theater. Zurich 1911
  • Eugen Müller: 100 years of municipal theater. Festschrift. 1934.
  • From an old theater chronicle. In: Zürcher Taschenbuch 1934.
  • Friedemann Arthur Pfenninger: Zurich and its theater in Biedermeier. Zurich 1980.
  • Friedemann Arthur Pfenninger: Zurich and its theater on the way to the Belle Epoque. Zurich 1981.
  • Reinhold Rüegg : Sheets to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Zurich City Theater. Zurich 1884.
  • Rudolf Schoch: One hundred years of the Tonhalle Zurich. Zurich 1968.
  • Richard Wagner: Collected writings and poems. Leipzig 1880.
  • Sigmund Widmer: Zurich, a cultural history. Zurich 1982.
  • Theatre? Theatre! Publication accompanying the exhibition of the City Archives, Zurich 1991.
  • History of the Canton of Zurich, Volume 3: 19th and 20th centuries. Zurich 1994.
  • 19th century newspapers: Allgemeine Theaterchronik Leipzig , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich , Züricher Post
  • Yearbooks of the City Theater Zurich, 1923–1925 and 1984/1985.
  • Aktientheater documents: minutes of the board of directors, theater journals, contracts, theater slips in the Zurich City Archives.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Max Fehr: Richard Wagner's Swiss time. Aarau / Leipzig 1934.
  2. ↑ Grammy Award winner Fabio Luisi Launches Philharmonia Zurich's New Label with Berlioz & Wagner CDs. WMOT, accessed November 5, 2015 .