Wiener Philharmoniker

The Wiener Philharmoniker is not only Austria’s most highly coveted “cultural export”, it is also an ambassador of peace, humanity and reconciliation, concepts which are inseparably linked to the message of music itself.

There is perhaps no other musical ensemble more consistently and closely associated with the history and tradition of European classical music than the Wiener Philharmoniker.

Since its inceptions by Otto Nicolai in 1842, the fascination that the orchestra has held for prominent composers and conductors, as well as for audiences all over the world, is based not only on a homogenous musical style carefully bequeathed from one generation to the next, but also on its unique history and structure.

The Wiener Philharmoniker performs approximately 110 concerts every season at home, presents Weeks in New York and Japan, and has participated in the Salzburger Festspiele since 1922. The orchestra makes yearly guest appearances in leading concert halls and festivals around the world, presents the New Year’s Concert, which is broadcast internationally in over 90 countries, and presents the free Summer Night Concert Schönbrunn, which is attended annually by up to 100,000 people.

Wiener Philharmoniker in Salzburg_br_© Salzburger Festspiele_Anne Zeuner — Wiener Philharmoniker © Anne Zeuner

“In its two concerts, the Vienna Philharmonic gave a broader demonstration of superb orchestral performance. Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” (orchestrated by Ravel) was characterized by beautifully balanced string sound, stop-on-the-dime precision, expressive solo contributions and the orchestra’s trademark legato playing.”

(Wall Street Journal)

“These players, drawn from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, have an intimate familiarity and a proprietary way with Wagner that was evident from the start in those surging and fulminating waves of sound that open the overture. Most orchestras seem to generate raw power mainly through the brasses, but in this one the strings are no less crucial, playing tremolos and pizzicatos with incomparable energy. Those opening sounds so filled the house that you felt as though you had been transported into an orchestra pit, cheek by jowl with the players.”

(New York Times)

“The sound of the Vienna Phil is more of a known quantity, but its richness and individuality still has the power to surprise.”

(The Guardian)