Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg
The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is the symphony orchestra of the town and state of Salzburg (Austria).
Foundation and Focus
The Mozarteum Orchestra was founded in 1841 with the help of Mozart’s sons Franz Xaver and Karl Thomas as well as his widow Constanze. In 1908, the ensemble officially adopted the name ″Mozarteum Orchestra″. The Orchestra is one of Austria's leading symphony orchestras and participates regularly at the Salzburg Festival. Since 2004, Ivor Bolton has been the principal conductor of the orchestra.
The Mozarteum Orchestra has also been heard in major opera productions: at the Salzburg Festival, Ivor Bolton conducted Haydn’s Armida in 2009 and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta in 2011 with Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala, as well as Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol. In 2008 and 2010, the orchestra – once again with Anna Netrebko in the title role – performed Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In 2012, the Mozarteum Orchestra also contributes to Peter von Winter's opera The Labyrinth or The Struggle with the Elements, Part Two of the Magic Flute at the Salzburg Festival. In 2013 the orchestra played Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s music in the frame of the drama A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. For the Salzburg State Theater, the orchestra also performs musical theater works.
Every year, the Mozarteum Orchestra performs in the Mozart Matinees at the Salzburg Festival. It also performs several concerts at the Salzburg Mozart Week and for the Salzburg Cultural Association. The orchestra has 91 regular members and has been conducted by international guest conductors including Giovanni Antonini, Robin Ticciati, Marc Minkowski, Mark Elder, Frans Brüggen, Andris Nelsons, Mark Wigglesworth and Thomas Dausgaard.
Starting with the 2011-2012 season, Trevor Pinnock as First Guest Conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra intensifies his collaboration with the ensemble. One of the main issues of the orchestra is working with young musicians and friends of music: thus, since 2010-2011 there is an annual school program, during which students attend interactive workshops, attend rehearsals and school concerts, introducing them to classical music. Furthermore, in 2008 the Mozarteum Orchestra presented a young project entitled 2 ORCHESTRAS, which featured the world premiere of its first commission for the combination of a professional orchestra and a youth orchestra. The project continued in 2010 with a work by Toshio Hosokawa.
The main sponsor of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is Audi.
International tours
On its international tours, the Mozarteum Orchestra represents the City and the State of Salzburg and acts as a musical ambassador. The 2011-2012 season led the orchestra to Japan, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cologne, Frankfurt and Baden-Baden. The fall of 2012 saw a major tour through China and a guest appearance in Berlin. At the Easter weekend 2013 the orchestra moreover performed in Cuenca at the 52. Semana de Música Religiose de Cuenca.
Recordings
The Mozarteum Orchestra’s work is documented widely on CD and DVD. The CDs released by the label Oehms Classics include numerous works by Mozart, Haydn’s oratorios The Seasons and The Creation, Berlioz’ L’Enfance du Christ as well as an ongoing cycle of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies. Besides in mid-July 2013 a CD-recording of the Label Sony Classical with works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was published. The Mozarteum Orchestra performed in conjunction with the harpist Xavier de Maistre and flautist Magali Mosnier. Its DVDs include Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Rolando Villazon and Zarzuelas with Plácido Domingo.
Principal conductors
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External links
- Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Official Website
- AllMusic, article by Robert Cummings