2018 Orchestra of the Year Award nominee: Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Gramophone
Friday, June 1, 2018
Discover why the Vienna Symphony Orchestra has been nominated for the 2018 Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award
Often overshadowed by its rather more glamorous neighbour, the Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra has, in its 118-year history, had some very distinguished conductors – people like Sawallisch, Giulini and Rozhdestvensky – and close relationships with Furtwängler, Karajan, Krips and Prêtre. Now in the care of Philippe Jordan, the ensemble is playing with great style and precision, something that has characterised the first two instalments in their ongoing Beethoven symphony cycle; a very 21st-century blend of tradition and heft with a litheness and flexibility that has cross-pollinated from the period-instrument world.