New York Philharmonic Orchestra

New York Philharmonic Orchestra, American orchestra. The Philharmonic Society of New York was founded in 1842, and is the oldest orchestra to enjoy continuous existence in the United States. The impetus for its formation came from the death three years earlier of the German pianist Daniel Schlesinger, who had wanted to create an orchestra in the United States of equal stature to those in his homeland. On December 7, 1842, the first concert was given; the programme included Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 (conducted by one of the orchestra's founders, Ureli Corelli Hill) and works by Weber, Kalliwoda, Hummel, Mozart, Rossini, and more Beethoven. During the early years of the orchestra's existence the season consisted of only a handful of concerts. Even by the 1869-1870 season there were no more than six. The conducting duties were often shared by three or four conductors in these early concerts. In 1852 Theodore Eisfeld was elected the orchestra's first director. He was succeeded in turn by Carl Bergmann, Theodore Thomas, and Anton Seidl. In 1867 the number of players was increased to 100 and the orchestra moved its headquarters from the Apollo Rooms to the Academy of Music. Most of the conductors used were European or European-trained; the repertoire, for the most part solidly Germanic, reflected that.

In the early years of the 20th century the Philharmonic, under such conductors as Emil Paur, Walter Damrosch, Vasily Safonov, Gustav Mahler, and Josef Stransky, enjoyed varying musical fortunes but was at least a relatively stable organization. In 1923 it merged with the fledgling American National Orchestra. More concerts meant that two or three principal conductors were engaged, together with various guests. The regular roster now included figures such as Willem Mengelberg, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini, Erich Kleiber, and Bruno Walter. Various other mergers took place in the 1920s, the most important being that with the New York Symphony Society in 1928. Toscanini was made principal conductor of the new “super-orchestra”. He took it to new heights during the years 1929-1936, touring abroad, broadcasting, and making recordings. Sir John Barbirolli (1936-1943), Artur Rodzinski (1943-1947), Bruno Walter (1947-1949), Dimitri Mitropoulos (1949-1957), Leonard Bernstein (1958-1969), George Szell (music adviser, 1969-1971), Pierre Boulez (1971-1978), Zubin Mehta (1978-1991), and Kurt Masur (1991-2002) have provided a dazzling array of international conducting talent since, an array marked not least by the contrasting temperaments, not to say geographical origins, of succeeding conductors. This has guaranteed an orchestra that can never rest on its laurels, instead periodically having to rethink its sound and its approach to and even definition of the repertoire. In 2002 Lorin Maazel succeeded Masur as musical director.

Since 1962 the NYPO's home has been the Avery Fisher Hall (called the Philharmonic Hall before 1973). Previously it was resident at the Carnegie Hall. In June 2003 the orchestra and Carnegie Hall announced a merger plan that would see the creation of a single musical performing arts institution; however, this agreement collapsed four months later over practical and legal difficulties.