A Sound Tradition. Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz
the new theater wouldn’t work: In Blaukopf’s account, “inside the house one could neither see nor hear anything.”
In the end, these prophecies of doom were unjustified, and the Viennese public would soon learn to love the new house as much as they had the Kärntnertor-Theater. One egregious planning failure is noted by Hellsberg: “Foyers and coat checks for the orchestra were forgotten.”
But there were also positive developments in the offing: in the autumn of 1868, anticipating the greater dimensions of the new house and the expanded demands of modern operatic literature, an expansion of the size of the orchestra was granted. For the first time, the organization exceeded 100 musicians, 55 new string instruments were purchased, and the string ensemble was significantly enlarged. For the first time, but by no means the last, the Philharmonic saw itself facing the problem of numerous new opera orchestra members also wanting to share in the concert orchestra “take,” that is, the completely justified wish to participate in the “free” earnings.
As always, the Philharmonic concerts took place in the old Kärntnertor-Theater. The orchestra’s petition to the General Management to allow it to use the newly opened (May 25, 1869) opera house for its “Philharmonic” concerts was denied because this building “as a matter of principle could not be used for any production furthering private interests.” Dingelstedt engaged Johann Herbeck as a new Kapellmeister and forced the orchestra to compete with itself for the moment. Herbeck, the conductor of the concerts at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde since 1859, had long viewed the Philharmonic concerts revived in 1860 as competition; now, starting in November 1869 he was leading concerts in the opera house to benefit the Court Theater’s pension fund.
One week later, Otto Dessoff conducted a “Philharmonic” concert in the Kärntnertor-Theater, which turned into a triumph: “The huge audience, occupying every space of the Kärntnertor-Theater auditorium, and the loud waves of applause after every number on the program, should have allayed any fears doubters might have had of the Philharmonic’s concerts being endangered by any other new concert-giving organizations,” announced the Neue Freie Presse.
When the Kärntnertor-Theater was cleared for demolition, the situation seemed to come to a head again: on April 17, 1870, the last performance (Rossini’s Wilhelm Tell) in the old opera house took place, and the orchestra members had to remove their instruments within fourteen days. So now where were these tradition-filled concerts, loved so extravagantly by the Viennese public, to go now that the new opera house was closed to them?
The answer to this question leads us into a new chapter of Philharmonic history.
The “Golden Era”…
…began in the Golden Hall (1870-1897)
The beginning of the “Golden Age” for our orchestra is usually seen as 1875, when Hans Richter took over as the conductor of the subscription concerts. Although Hellsberg shares this viewpoint, he asks rhetorically, “Did this orchestra even exist before there was a Musikverein building?” in order to confirm his argument that the “international standing of the Philharmonic started in the 1870’s.” This ideal hall provided for “the full development of their (i.e., the Philharmonic musicians’) sound potential” and put its enduring stamp on the playing of the Philharmonic musicians. The opulent interior configuration had a reverberation time of about two seconds and created the “warm” sound that favors lower frequencies. The financial stability of the enterprise is also worth mentioning: ticket income doubled in the short period from the last Kärntnertor-Theater concert in 1870 up to the 1874/75 season, which is additional justification for placing the start of the golden era at the orchestra’s move into the Golden Hall in 1870. This has been home of the Philharmonic up to the present day and will hopefully stay that way in the future.
The conservatory had already moved to spaces in the new building on the Karlsplatz in the fall of 1869, and the concert halls opened in January 1870. Originally, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde had wanted to merge its orchestra into the Philharmonic, but this dissolution plan was likewise never realized. Our orchestra only made the concession of sending some of its musicians to play in the Gesellschaft’s concerts. On Sunday, November 13, 1870, it was done: “the first Subscription Concert, performed by the members of the Imperial and Royal Court Opera Orchestra (still not “Vienna Philharmonic”!) took place in the “Great Hall,” works of Weber, Beethoven and Schumann were on the program. Subscription series conductor Otto Dessoff, whose main job continued to be conducting at the opera, also started bringing international conductors in guest appearances for the “Philharmonic” players, including Hans von Bülow and Richard Wagner. On December 29, 1872, Dessoff conducted his 100th subscription concert, and a few days before that, Emperor Franz Joseph had authorized the formation of a “Pension-Institute of the Imperial and Royal Court Opera Theater.” The first Opera Ball took place on April 22, 1873—though not in the Ring building, but in the Vienna Musikverein. On this occasion, Johann Strauss the Younger conducted—violin in hand, of course—the world premiere of his waltz Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood). Just a few months later, at a Musikverein festival concert at the World Exposition in November 1873, Strauss conducted The Blue Danube Waltz. Those who enjoy the Blue Danube as an encore at the New Year’s concerts should remember that the composer himself led one of the earliest performances of this “secret national anthem of Austria” with the Philharmonic players. This concert was made possible, incidentally, by the generous donation of the Chinese World Exposition Commission—it was to be another century before our orchestra toured China!
On October 26, 1873, Anton Bruckner conducted our orchestra in concert: the world premiere of his Second Symphony. Prince Johann II von und zu Liechtenstein had made available the means for a special concert: Arthur Nikisch, temporary first violinist of the Court Opera Orchestra, recalled “how Bruckner came to the podium, and then said to us (in his Austrian provincial accent), ‘All right, gentlemen, we can rehearse as long as we want, I’ve got somebody who’ll pay.” Bruckner, highly elated by its success (the audience interrupted with thunderous applause after every movement, which was still “allowed” back then!), wrote a letter to the “Musikervereinigung” (musicians’ association) asking “May I dedicate the work to you?” It is one of the dark spots in the history of our orchestra that they did not bother to reply to the composer, whose admiration for the orchestra they in no way reciprocated, for two years…
Paralleling the Philharmonic’s high points—such as appearances of Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms with the orchestra—were historic performances at the opera, too. On April 29, 1874, came the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. At one rehearsal, there was tension between conductor Dessoff and his director Herbeck, who yelled: “the third flute is missing, Herr Kapellmeister, can’t you hear that?” to which Dessoff replied: “the third flute is out today, Herr Direktor, can’t you see that?”
Because he thought his opera salary insufficient, Dessoff left Vienna after fifteen years with a series of triumphal Philharmonic concerts, and even his adversary Herbeck resigned, “morally and physically half destroyed.”
Within a few weeks, our orchestra gave concerts in the spring of 1875 under the direction of the two outstanding opera composers of the 19th century. After Wagner had given three acclaimed concerts, Giuseppe Verdi appeared in June to rehearse and conduct his Requiem Mass and Aida. To be sure, the latter did no “Philharmonic” concerts per se, but during a visit to the conservatory of the Musikverein he paid it a lasting double compliment: “With a school like this, Vienna will long have the first orchestra of the world.” Hellsberg sums up the Wagner and Verdi visits and also the guest appearances of Brahms (of which more later) and Bruckner as follows: “The practical tests the orchestra passed as partners of great composers inspired that consciousness of tradition which lent a new dimension to the self-image of the Vienna Philharmonic.”
A new Director, a new Chief Conductor
On