Orchestra
The VBW orchestra
Its 85 members are comprised of ladies and gentlemen from 15 nations who specialize in classical, jazz and pop music. Its present Musical Director is Koen Schootsand it ranks as one of Austria’s best orchestras. As a musical and big band orchestra, the Orchester der VBW has met with overwhelming international acclaim.
Founded in 1987 with musicians from the THEATER AN DER WIEN and RAIMUND THEATER as well as the special CATS ensemble, it now plays at the musical houses RAIMUND THEATER and RONACHER every evening.
Aside from its engagements as a musical orchestra, it has performed as a big band and backup orchestra for international jazz greats such as Joe Zawinul and Toots Thielemans; it has produced CD recordings with Sir A. L. Webber, Sylvester Levay, and Jim Steinman, among others, and given orchestral concerts of opera and musical works with soloists Thomas Hampson, Jerry Hadley, Dawn Upshaw, as well as Katja and Arielle Labeque.
„MoMo & Mo(derne)“ sums up the Theater an der Wien’s artistic focus: Aside from works ranging from Monteverdi to Mozart, emphasis is also placed on contemporary musical theatre.
Its top-notch orchestral basis is formed by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Vienna Symphonic, Concentus Musicus, and international period instruments ensembles. Together with established and rising stars, they ensure excellent quality from opening nights to last performances.
In October 1900, The Vienna Symphonic, which was called „Wiener Concertverein" at the time, presented itself to the public for the first time. Back then, the Vienna Philharmonic was primarily dedicated to opera performances and the new orchestra aimed at complementing it in the area of concert music. Since 1946, it has regularly performed at the Bregenz Festival as an „Orchestra in Residence“ (and, thus, chiefly as an opera orchestra). From the start, numerous eminent personalities in the world of conducting have stood at the desk of The Vienna Symphonic, among others Wilhelm Furtwängler, Oswald Kabasta, Richard Strauss and Bruno Walter. Leonard Bernstein and Lorin Maazel made their debuts in Vienna with the Vienna Symphonic. Playing under its principal conductor Herbert von Karajan and Wolfgang Sawallisch has influenced the orchestra in a very special way. As the first guest conductor, Georges Prêtre followed principal conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and Gennadij Roshdestvenskij; since 1991, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos served as head of the The Vienna Symphonic. In 1997, Vladimir Fedosejev took over this position, in October 2005 it was passed on to Fabio Luisi.
The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra was formed as an offspring of the Großes Orchester des Österreichischen Rundfunks in 1969. It has since established itself as one of the most versatile orchestras in Austria. Since its founding, the RSO has mainly focused on contemporary music. Bertrand de Billy has been serving as the principal conductor of the RSO Vienna since 2002. Aside from concert series at Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the orchestra regularly performs at important festivals at home and abroad, and it has forged a special connection with the Salzburg Festival and KlangBogen Vienna. Its extensive touring has taken the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra to the US, South America, Asia, and various European countries, among others. Under conductor Bertrand de Billy, the RSO produced recordings of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, Eugen d’Alberts Tiefland as well as a CD with French orchestral music.
