What is Vienna Symphony?
The '''Vienna Symphony''' ({{lang-de|Wiener Symphoniker}}) is an [[orchestra]] in [[Vienna]], [[Austria]]. ==History== The orchestra was formed in 1900 by the [[conducting|conductor]] [[Ferdinand Löwe]]. It was then called the ''Wiener Concertverein'' (Vienna Concert Society). In 1913 it moved into the [[Konzerthaus, Vienna]]. In 1919 it joined with the [[Tonkünstler Orchestra]]. In 1933 it got the name it has today: Vienna Symphony (Wiener Symphoniker). During [[World War II]] the [[Nazi]]s forced them to be part of the German Culture Orchestras and they were used for [[propaganda]]. They stopped playing in 1944. Their first concert after the war was on 16 September 1945, when they performed [[Gustav Mahler]]'s ''Symphony No. 3''. Their conductor [[Josef Krips]] quickly helped them to become a great orchestra. From 1946 they were often conducted by [[Herbert von Karajan]] who toured with them throughout [[Europe]] and [[North America]]. In 1959 the VSO performed for [[Pope John XXIII]] at [[Vatican City]]. When [[Wolfgang Sawallisch]] became their conductor he toured with them to the [[United States]] and [[Japan]]. Today [[Fabio Luisi]] is their chief conductor. ==Chief conductors== [[Image:Wiener Konzerthaus 2003.jpg|thumb|Wiener Konzerthaus|250px]] *1900-1925 [[Ferdinand Löwe]] *1920s-1930s [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] ''(as director of the [[Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde]])'' *1933-1940s [[Oswald Kabasta]] *1946-1948 [[Hans Swarowsky]] *1948-1960 [[Herbert von Karajan]] ''(as director of the [[Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde]])'' *1960-1970 [[Wolfgang Sawallisch]] *1970-1973 [[Josef Krips]] (artistic advisor) *1973-1976 [[Carlo Maria Giulini]] *1980-1982 [[Gennady Rozhdestvensky]] *1986-1991 [[Georges Prêtre]] (principal guest conductor) *1991-1996 [[Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos]] *1997-2005 [[Vladimir Fedoseyev]] *2005-''present'' [[Fabio Luisi]] ==Related pages== * [[Vienna Philharmonic]] ==Other websites== * [http://www.wiener-symphoniker.at/gesch/ge_index_e.htm History of the Vienna Symphony Orchest