The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

based at the

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Konzerthaus.

History

The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer,

Heinrich Hollreiser Heinrich Hollreiser (24 June 191324 July 2006) was a German conductor. Born in Munich, he attended the State Academy of Music there and went on to serve as the conductor at the opera houses in Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Mannheim, and Duisburg. From ...

Paul Angerer Paul Angerer (16 May 1927 – 26 July 2017) was an Austrian violist, conductor, composer and radio presenter. Life Angerer studied music theory and composition with Friedrich Reidinger and Alfred Uhl, and conducting with Hans Swarowsky. He ...

, and

Carlo Zecchi Carlo Zecchi (8 July 190331 August 1984) was an Italian pianist, music teacher and conductor. Zecchi was born in Rome. A pupil of F. Baiardi for piano and of L. Refice and A. Bustini for composition, he began his career as a concert pianist at o ...

. When he took over the position from 1976 to 1991,

Philippe Entremont Philippe Entremont (born 7 June 1934) is a French classical pianist and conductor. His recordings as a pianist include concertos by Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saëns and others. Early life Philippe Entremont was born in ...

started a tradition of conductors playing a dual rôle, appearing as both conductor and soloist. Entremont has continued as the Orchestra's lifetime honorary conductor, leading it on tour and in its

matinée In the performing arts, film exhibition, and other forms of entertainment, a matinée is a performance or exhibition in the afternoon (or occasionally earlier), as distinguished from the evening. Matinée may also refer to: * ''Matinée'' (album) ...

subscription series at the Konzerthaus. In addition, the WKO has continued to invite dual-role artists, including

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classic ...

Heinrich Schiff Heinrich Schiff (18 November 1951 – 23 December 2016) was an Austrian cellist and conductor. Early life Heinrich Schiff was born on 18 November 1951 in Gmunden, Austria. His parents, Helga (née Riemann) and Helmut Schiff, were composers. He ...

, and Ola Rudner.

was chief conductor of the WKO from 2005 to 2008, when he stepped down from the post for health reasons. Stefan Vladar was the most recent chief conductor of the WKO, from 2008 to 2018. Since 2018, the WKO's principal guest conductor is Joji Hattori. The commercial recordings of the WKO include the first complete recording of the symphonies of

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, conducted by

Ernst Märzendorfer Ernst Märzendorfer (26 May 192116 September 2009) was an Austrian conductor. Märzendorfer was born in Oberndorf bei Salzburg. He studied with Clemens Krauss at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and was appointed as first conductor of the Graz Opera i ...

. This set received a very limited release and was little known at the time.

Chief conductors

* Franz Litschauer *

(1956–1963) *

(1966–1976) *

(1976–1991) * Ernst Kovacic (artistic leader, 1996–1998) * Christoph Eberle (1999–2004) *

(2005–2008) * Stefan Vladar (2008–2018)

References

External links

Official home page of the Wiener Kammerorchester

— Bach Cantatas Website

History

Chief conductors

References

External links

See also