Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
| Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Orchestra | |
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| Founded | 1888 |
| Concert hall | Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam |
| Principal conductor | Daniele Gatti |
| Website | www |
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Dutch: Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, pronounced [ˌkoːnɪnklək kɔnˈsɛrtxəbʌu̯ɔrˌkɛst]) is a symphony orchestra in the Netherlands, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). In 1988, Queen Beatrix conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra. It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras, having topped numerous polls.
The Concertgebouw opened on 11 April 1888. The Concertgebouw Orchestra was established several months later, and gave its first concert in the Concertgebouw on 3 November 1888, conducted by the orchestra's first chief conductor, Willem Kes.
Kes served as the orchestra's chief conductor from its 1888 founding to 1895. In 1895, Willem Mengelberg became chief conductor and remained in this position for fifty years, an unusually long tenure for a music director. He is generally regarded as having brought the orchestra to a level of major international significance, with a particular championing of such then-contemporary composers as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.
For approximately its first 75 years, the Concertgebouw Orchestra had a somewhat complicated roster of conductors. In addition to the chief conductor, the orchestra had conductor positions titled "eerste dirigent" ("first conductor"), who assisted the chief conductor with programming, and "tweede dirigent" ("second conductor"), who did "what he was told." During Mengelberg's time as chief conductor, several of these first conductors included Karl Muck (1921–1925), Pierre Monteux (1924–1934), Bruno Walter (1934–1939), and Eugen Jochum (1941–1943), each of them internationally respected and holding positions at other orchestras as well. Musicians who served as "second conductor" were all Dutch and included the composer Cornelis Dopper, Evert Cornelis and Eduard van Beinum.
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