Leipzig Gewandhaus
The Gewandhaus Orchestra is the oldest municipal concert orchestra in the world. The orchestra had its origins in the concert society called the "Grand Concert" founded by 16 merchants in 1743. Following its move into the meeting house of the cloth merchants (the "Gewandhaus") in 1781, the ensemble was named the "Gewandhaus Orchestra." In 1884 the orchestra moved into a new concert hall that had been built through the sale of endowment shares, which was destroyed during the air raids of 1944. In 1981 the new Gewandhaus was opened on Augustusplatz.
Few other orchestras have contributed as much to the development of the symphonic musical tradition as the Gewandhaus Orchestra. For example, it performed all the Beethoven symphonies during the composer's lifetime. The orchestra also presented the world's first complete Bruckner cycle as well as the first Shostakovich cycle during the 1970s.
The orchestra's European renown was established by Felix Mendelssohn, who was appointed Gewandhaus Music Director in 1835. He was the first to function as a conductor in the modern sense, doing away with the division between music director and concertmaster in conducting the orchestra, which had been the practice until he assumed the position. From that time onward, the conductor himself became a performer who gave his personal interpretation of the works played. Mendelssohn conducted his first Gewandhaus concert on 4 October 1835. The programme included his overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage as well as works by Cherubini, Spohr and Weber. The concert concluded with Beethoven's Fourth Symphony.
That fact that public awareness of Johann Sebastian Bach's works was raised again is due to Mendelssohn's idea of embedding contemporary music, which was the only repertoire played on concert stages at that time, more strongly in a historical context. On 9 November 1835, a work by Bach was heard in the Gewandhaus for the first time. The world premieres of Schubert's 'Great' C major Symphony, Niels Wilhelm Gade's First and Second Symphonies, the First and Fourth Symphonies of Schumann as well as several of his own works (Ruy Blas Overture, Psalm 42, Hymn of Praise, Third Symphony, 'Scottish', Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Violin Concerto in E minor) were given during Mendelssohn's tenure.
On 26 September 1840, five years after Mendelssohn took up his post, the Gewandhaus Orchestra came under the aegis of the Leipzig City Council and was recognized as the "City Orchestra." As such, it assumed the duties which had previously been performed by the town musicians. As a result of this decision, the orchestra still boasts an exceptionally wide repertoire and gives an unusually large number of performances, since it appears as a concert orchestra in the Gewandhaus, an opera orchestra at the Leipzig Opera and a chamber orchestra which performs cantatas with the world-famous St. Thomas's Boys Choir at St. Thomas's Church. With more than 200 performances in these three venues and on tour, the Gewandhaus Orchestra is the musical heart of the City of Leipzig and its most important musical ambassador.
In addition to Felix Mendelssohn (1835-1847), Arthur Nikisch (1895-1922), Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922-1928) and Bruno Walter (1929-1933) are among the most distinguished Gewandhaus Music Directors. Kurt Masur (1970-1997) and Herbert Blomstedt (1998-2005) are Honorary Conductors of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Riccardo Chailly has held the post of Gewandhaus Music Director since September 2005.
Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
Augustplatz 8
04109 Leipzig
www.gewandhaus.de