What is Madrid Symphony Orchestra?
{{Infobox musical artist | Name = Madrid Symphony Orchestra | Img = | Img_capt = | Background = classical_ensemble | Origin = [[Madrid]], [[Spain]] | Genre = [[Classical music|Classical]] | Occupation = [[Symphony orchestra]] | Years_active = 1903-''present'' | URL = [http://www.osm.es/] | Current_members = '''Principal Conductor'''<br>[[Jesús López Cobos]]<br>'''Associate Composer'''<br>[[Cristóbal Halffter]]<br>'''Emeritus Conductor'''<br>[[Kurt Sanderling]] | Past_members = '''Founder'''<br>[[José del Hierro]] | Notable_instruments = }} The '''Madrid Symphony Orchestra''' ({{lang-es|'''Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid'''}}) is an orchestra based in [[Madrid]], the capital of [[Spain]]. It was started in [[1903]]. The orchestra gave its first public concert under the [[conducting|conductor]], Alonso Cordelás on 7 February 1904 at the Teatro Real. The next year [[Enrique Fernández Arbós]] became conductor of the orchestra, and he stayed with them for more than 30 years. The orchestra played a lot of Spanish music as well as music by composers from other European countries. Some very famous people such as [[Igor Stravinsky]] and [[Richard Strauss]] conducted the orchestra. The orchestra gave the first performances of famous pieces such as: [[Manuel de Falla|Falla]]'s ''Nights in the Gardens of Spain'' (1916) and [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]]'s Second Violin Concerto (1935). During the [[Spanish Civil War]] it was difficult to keep the concerts going. After the war, in June 1939, Arbós died and many of the musicians had gone into [[exile]] because of the rise of the dictator General [[Francisco Franco]]. The conductor Enrique Jordá kept the orchestra going until 1945 when the [[World War II]] ended. From 1958 the orchestra often played for comic Spanish [[opera]]s called [[zarzuela]]s. They often travelled through Spain and to [[Portugal]] and [[Latin America]] giving concerts.