Gewandhausorchestra Leipzig

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Riccardo Chailly, conductor Nelson Freire, piano The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is the oldest civic concert orchestra in the world. The orchestra developed from a concert company called the 'Great Concert' founded in 1743 by 16 merchants. Following its move into the trade fair house of the cloth merchants (the 'Gewandhaus') in 1781, the ensemble was named 'Gewandhaus Orchestra'. In 1884, the orchestra moved into a new concert hall that had been built from the returns of the sale of foundation shares. This concert hall was destroyed during the air raids of 1944. In 1981, a new Gewandhaus concert hall was opened on Augustusplatz. There have been only a few other orchestras that contributed to the development of the symphonic musical tradition to such an extent as the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Take Beethoven's symphonies, for example, all of which the orchestra performed while the composer was still alive, or the world's first Bruckner‐cycle as well as the first Shostakovich cycle from the 1970s, which came into existence because of the orchestra. The Gewandhaus Orchestra boasts an uncommonly large repertoire and an unusually high frequency of performances. In part, this us due to its multiple purposes as a concert orchestra, an opera orchestra for Leipzig's Opera, and as a chamber orchestra which performs cantatas with the world‐famous St. Thomas' Boys Choir in St. Thomas' Church. With more than 200 performances in its three major venues and on tour throughout the world, the Gewandhaus Orchestra is the musical heart of the City of Leipzig and its most important musical envoy. Mendelssohn, Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter are among the more famous musical directors of the orchestra. Herbert Blomstedt, who followed Kurt Masur in 1998, has been the orchestra's 18th musical director; in the autumn of 2005, he will hand the baton on to Riccardo Chailly. Riccardo Chailly is the general musical director designate of the Leipzig Opera and the musical director designate of the Gewandhaus. Taking office on 2 September 2005, he will be the first musical director to hold both offices concurrently for over 30 years ago. Chailly is an artist who embodies vivacity and discipline, adventure and passion, tradition and change simultaneously. His performances are emotional, sensual and of a perfect musical craftsmanship that lends concert and opera performances a special kind of vivacity and passion. While he leaves nothing to chance he has been able to maintain what he calls his 'fire', the sparks of which quickly take possession of musicians and audiences alike. Apart from the standard repertoire Chailly dedicated himself in his 16 years with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam in particular to performing works of the 20th century. Countless tours took him to Asia and America, through Japan as well as through Europe. In addition, Chailly has been working with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, an orchestra founded by citizens of Milan which came to international fame under his leadership in the past five years. Chailly has directed music in all major opera houses in the world, such as the Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Royal Opera in Covent Garden, London, the opera houses in Munich and Zurich, as well as directing performances during the Salzburg Festival and the International Music Festival in Lucerne. He has worked, among others, with the philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, Vienna, New York and Munich, with the London Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia and Chicago. Between 1983 and 1986, Chailly was the Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and subsequently until 1989 he was Chief Conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin. Between 1986 and 1993 Riccardo Chailly worked as Musical Director of the Teatro Comunale Bologna.