Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dutch orchestra, based in Amsterdam. Its home is the Concertgebouw building, which was built in 1888 and has a capacity of 2,200. The orchestra itself was also founded in 1888, and conducted by Willem Kes until 1895, when Willem Mengelberg took over as principal conductor until 1941. Though the orchestra’s repertoire has always covered the entire range of Western classical music, it has a special relationship with the music of the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, who personally conducted his Symphony no.1 and Symphony no.3 with the orchestra in 1903, when his music was still little understood even in Vienna. Mengelberg and his orchestra became the earliest and most devoted promoters of Mahler’s work, presenting a Mahler festival in 1920; and Mahler returned in 1904 (Symphony no.2 and Symphony no.4), 1906 (Symphony no.5, the Kindertotenlieder), and 1909 (Symphony no.7).

This tradition has been continued by all three of the orchestra’s subsequent principal conductors: Eduard van Beinum (1941-1961), Bernard Haitink (1961-1988; the first three years in tandem with Eugen Jochum), and Riccardo Chailly (1988- ). The orchestra’s sound has always been rich and well blended, and under Chailly the repertoire has remained strong in the major central European classics, while expanding markedly in works of the later 20th century. Since World War II the orchestra has been supported by the state, and is financially independent of the building that gives it its name. On its centenary in 1988, the orchestra was awarded the prefix “Royal” by the Dutch monarchy.