Founded in 1900, the Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the world’s leading symphonic ensembles. Hungarian conductor Eugene Ormándy played a key role in developing the orchestra during his tenure as principal conductor from 1936 to 1980. Besides Ormándy, the orchestra has only had six other music directors during its one hundred and eight years: Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, Leopold Stokowski, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Christoph Eschenbach. The orchestra has an impressive tradition and gave the American première of works such as Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Christoph Eschenbach is the music director of the Orchestre de Paris, as well as guest conductor of the London and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also conducts many other ensembles across the world. In 1972, as a distinguished pianist, he took up conducting full time. With the encouragement of George Szell, he made his debut in America in 1969 at a Szell concert and was the first German pianist to launch a career in America following World War II. Born in Athens, Leonidas Kavakos works with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. In 2007, he replaced Sir Roger Norrington as the artistic director of the Camerata Salzburg and was previously the ensemble’s principal guest artist, and they made recordings together. The performance of the Violin Concerto by Sibelius is eagerly awaited because Kavakos made the very first recording of the original and final version of the work, which won the 1991 British Gramophone Award.

Presented by: