Carnegie Hall

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s storied history and sumptuous sound make it a perennial audience favorite. There are many contributing factors to that glorious tone, but the musicians’ use of instruments not made outside of Vienna is one frequently sited reason. It’s an exquisite pleasure to hear the warm, rounded timbre of their Viennese horns—different from the standard French horn—sing out in Carnegie Hall. But there’s more to the orchestra than the instruments. Here are some facts about the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s first concert was conducted by composer Otto Nicolai on March 28, 1842. The ensemble comprised musicians from the Imperial Opera Theater—a tradition that continues to this day: Only musicians who play in the Vienna State Opera Orchestra can become members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The orchestra made its New York debut on November 7, 1956, at Carnegie Hall. Carl Schuricht conducted a program that featured a youthful Mozart symphony, Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7. The concert was a highlight of the orchestra’s first US tour.

In Vienna, the orchestra gave the world premieres of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Brahms’s Second and Third symphonies, as well as Bruckner’s Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth symphonies. At Carnegie Hall, the orchestra performed the cornerstones of the Austro-German tradition, but also music by Sibelius, Stravinsky, Ravel, Debussy, Ives, and many others.

Leonard Bernstein, the New York Philharmonic’s laureate conductor, was the first American to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Bernstein conducted the orchestra in a 1966 concert of music by Mozart and Mahler—the start of a longstanding relationship. The maestro conducted the orchestra for the first time at Carnegie Hall on November 14, 1979, in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Lorin Maazel was on the podium when the orchestra opened Carnegie Hall’s 1999–2000 season with an all–Richard Strauss program. The orchestra does not have a music director, but instead works with the leading conductors of the day. Some of the greats who have appeared with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall include Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Pierre Boulez, and Gustavo Dudamel.

Event posters and Karajan courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives, Dudamel by Danny Clinch.