State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie
The State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie (SRP) , based in Koblenz, is one of the three symphony orchestras in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . The SRP can look back on a long history: The roots of the traditional orchestra go back to the year 1654. The SRP gives symphony concerts in northern Rhineland-Palatinate as well as in Germany and abroad. It is also responsible for the music theater productions of the Koblenz Theater . The Scottish Garry Walker has been the chief conductor since the 2017/2018 season .
history
1654-1808
In 1654, Prince Karl Kaspar von der Leyen, then resident in Koblenz, founded the Koblenz court orchestra. As a result, the Koblenz Orchestra under the last Elector of Trier, Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony , with a strength of 49 musicians, became one of the largest orchestras in Germany. Only the chapels in Berlin, Dresden and Mannheim were larger. When the French revolutionary troops occupied Koblenz in 1794, however, the elector fled and the court, including the chapel, dissolved. The discontinuation of court and church music also affected the citizens of Koblenz, because there had been public concerts and opera performances since 1760. Not all musicians left the city, but the regular concerts that were now being given in the “Drei Reichskronen” restaurant, as well as other attempts to keep the concert culture alive by the bourgeoisie, were not as successful as hoped.
1808-1900
The philharmonic tradition was only re-institutionalized with the establishment of the Music Institute in 1808 by the Koblenz lawyer and musician Joseph Andreas Anschuez. The music institute, whose task was initially church music, acted for the next 100 years as the employer of the Koblenz orchestra musicians. In addition to the symphony orchestra, it maintained a singing school with a choir. The institute's most prominent music director was Max Bruch from 1865–1866 , who composed his famous Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor in Koblenz, which was also premiered in Koblenz.
1900-1945
In 1901 a "Philharmonic Orchestra Association" was founded, the aim of which was to maintain a permanent orchestra in the royal seat of Koblenz. The former spa orchestra Bad Kreuznach , which was directed by Humperdinck's student Heinrich Sauer, was signed up as an orchestra for Koblenz. It played both symphony concerts and opera performances. In 1907, however, the orchestra went to Bonn and became the Beethoven Hall's preliminary symphony orchestra . It later became the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn in Bonn . A new orchestra was founded in Koblenz. In 1913 the music institute and the philharmonic orchestra were separated. From then on the orchestra was called the “Städtisches Orchester”. In 1926 the positions of music director of the music institute, musical director of the theater and chief conductor of the orchestra, Erich Böhlke, were combined in one person. In 1927, Böhlke was awarded the title of "general music director". Böhlke led the orchestra to blossom; During this time there were several co-productions with the Bonn Orchestra. After the dissolution of the opera and the municipal orchestra in 1930, the musicians themselves ensured that their orchestra was preserved. Until 1936, when the city took over the orchestra again, now with only 36 musicians, they played as the "Orchestra of the Koblenz Professional Musicians Working Group". On the orders of the Reich Propaganda Ministry , the orchestra was dissolved again in 1944.
Since 1945
After the end of the war, in August 1945, the editor of the Mittelrhein-Kurier, Anton Tilmann Veit from Bad Ems , placed advertisements: he was looking for a conductor and 54 musicians for a philharmonic orchestra. The date of the audition, September 15, 1945, is considered to be the founding date of the "Rheinische Philharmonie". The new name of the orchestra implies what Veit's plans were, namely the cross-zone coverage of the entire Rhineland with radio broadcasts. The orchestra was initially a radio orchestra. It played symphony concerts for the radio and the Koblenz Music Institute as well as in the smaller towns around Koblenz. The Catholic reading club and an inn served as rehearsal rooms. From 1946 the theater was also used again with opera productions. After AT Veits was suspended due to conflicts of interest with the French occupation and the subsequent shift in focus of Südwestfunk, which had taken over the Koblenz studio, the orchestra no longer had an employer. Until 1955 the orchestra was a voluntary association under self-administration. In 1955 the Rheinische Philharmonie became a registered association and has since received continuous support from the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. Since then, the approximately 65–72 orchestra musicians have been paid according to the tariff. With the inauguration of the Rhein-Mosel-Halle in Koblenz, the orchestra has had a permanent venue for large symphony concerts since the end of 1962. In 1970 the orchestra was promoted to grade B and became a state orchestra on July 1, 1973. Since then the orchestra has been called the "State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie". The rehearsal room and thus the seat of the orchestra has been the historic Görreshaus, named after Joseph Görres , since 1985 . In 1988 the Friends of the Orchestra was founded. a. supports the concert series “Orchestral Concerts in Görreshaus”.
In 2003, as part of the orchestra structure reform in Rhineland-Palatinate, the state orchestra was reduced from 77 to 66 posts. The reform initially envisaged an even greater cut, but this was averted primarily through the citizens' protest movement, which has gathered around 33,000 signatures. The Rheinische Philharmonie Foundation was founded in 2006, the aim of which is to provide the orchestra with continuous support, particularly for large-scale symphonic works, by funding scholarship holders.
The Görreshaus
The Görreshaus in Koblenz's old town has been the seat of the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie since 1985 . The building named after Joseph Görres was built in 1865 by the Catholic Reading Association in the old German-neo-Gothic style. After being restored both expertly and lovingly, it is now one of the most beautiful secular buildings on the Middle Rhine. What distinguishes the hall in terms of design are above all the wood paneling and wall paintings from the 19th century. You can see the coats of arms of the bishopric and old lettering on the walls and galleries. Just like them, the 4 chandeliers in the hall have been reconstructed from old photos. The Görressaal has been the orchestra's rehearsal room since 1985. Since then, concerts have also taken place regularly. Visitors can experience the excellent sound and aesthetic properties of the Great Hall at the “Orchestra Concerts in the Görreshaus” and in the chamber music series “Hour of the Philharmonic”. The children's concerts also take place in the Görressaal. In order to be able to stage different orchestral line-ups accordingly, the hall has a flexible stage that allows different structures. Chamber concerts are played in a more intimate setting than orchestral concerts. The control room on the west gallery also enables sound recordings. The foyer of the hall is u. a. used as a rehearsal room by the choir of the Koblenz Music Institute. The orchestra office is located on the lower floor of the Görreshaus.
Concert activity
The SRP plays around 60–70 concerts during the season. The orchestra plays large symphony concerts as part of the rights concerts of the Koblenz Music Institute in the Rhein-Mosel-Halle. With the orchestral concerts in the Görreshaus there is a series of concerts organized in-house. From 1996 to 2008 the SRP performed all of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's solo concerts in the “Koblenz Concerts” . The concerts were recorded by the SWR. In addition to chamber concerts and children's concerts, the orchestra plays at festivals in the Middle Rhine region such as B. the Middle Rhine Music Festival or the Moselle Music Festival. The SRP regularly gives concerts at home and abroad. As the state orchestra for northern Rhineland-Palatinate, it plays regularly in Mayen , Simmern, Bad Salzig and Andernach . The SRP has regular guest appearances at the Cologne Philharmonic and the Beethoven Hall in Bonn. In 1999, a China tour with concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, among others, was on the program, and in 2002 the orchestra toured the Rhineland-Palatinate partner country Rwanda. Current concert tours have led and continue to lead the SRP to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam , the Great Festival Hall in Salzburg as well as to Italy, Belgium and Switzerland. In addition to the classic range of concerts, the Rheinische Philharmonie with its r (h) series offers an extensive concert educational program for children, young people and families, but also for the increasingly important social group of senior citizens.
Operatic activity
The SRP is responsible for the production of the theater of the city of Koblenz. There are around 140 musical theater performances per season on the program. Major productions in recent years, in which the orchestra is placed on the stage depending on its strength, have been or are " Otello ", " Tristan und Isolde ", " Die Walküre " and the like. a.
CD productions (selection)
The SRP regularly records works on CD. Arrangements of Brahms works have been published on the cpo label: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 (arr. By Arnold Schönberg ); Sonata for clarinet a. Piano op.120.1 (arr. By Luciano Berio ), soloist is Karl-Heinz Steffens. A CD was created for OehmsClassics with violin concertos by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Max Bruch as well as the concert fantasy in C major op. 131 by Robert Schumann . Benjamin Schmid is the soloist . Most recently, a double CD with all Brahms symphonies for Twopianists records as well as two CD productions with Avi music with the 4th symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich and with concerts for cello by Goldschmidt, Bloch and Korngold. The soloist is Julian Steckel (violoncello). This CD received the Echo Klassik 2012.
In 1988, under the direction of Samuel Friedman, a production of the 1st Symphony by Joachim Raff was made , which was published by Naxos .
management
Garry Walker was chief conductor from 2017 to 2020 . His predecessors were u. a. Wolfgang Balzer (1972–1975), James Lockhart (1981–1991, honorary conductor since), Christian Kluttig (1991–1998), Shao-Chia Lü (1998–2004) and Daniel Raiskin (2005–2016). Günter Müller-Rogalla has been the artistic director of the Rheinische Philharmonie since 2014.
literature
- Uwe Baur: Citizens' Initiative Music. 250 years of public musical life in Koblenz. Koblenz 2008. ISBN 3-934639-04-6
- Artistic director of the Rheinische Philharmonie State Orchestra (Ed.): 1945–1995. 50 years of the Rheinische Philharmonie State Orchestra in Koblenz. Koblenz no year
Web links
- Website of the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie
- Website of the music institute
- Website of the theater of the city of Koblenz
- Portrait on musingo
Individual evidence
- ↑ r (h) a: look & discover ( memento of the original from August 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
