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About
Philharmonia Zurich – the orchestra of the Zurich opera house has been in the hands of music director Fabio Luisi since 2012. His predecessors in the role of artistic director were Rail Weikert, Franz Welser-Möst and Daniele Gatti. Many eminent conductors have stood and still stand at the rostrum of the Philharmonia Zurich, shaping the orchestra since 1985 when it was established after the winding-up of the longstanding Tonhalle- und Theaterorchester. It has featured highly skilled artists such as Marc Albrecht, Alain Altinoglu, Marco Armiliato, Riccardo Chailly, Teodor Currentzis, Christoph von Dohnányi, John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Zubin Mehta, Ingo Metzmacher, Nello Santi and Simone Young.
The repertoire of the Philharmonia Zurich includes the full breadth of the orchestral literature, from Baroque music all the way to contemporary music. Every season the orchestra will play in around 250 opera and ballet performances. As a platform for its concerto repertoire the orchestra also organizes a cycle of philharmonic concerts. Chamber music concerts round off the orchestra’s artistic spectrum.
One of the special features of the Philharmonia Zurich is the ‘Orchestra La Scintilla’, an original sound ensemble comprising musicians from the Philharmonia Zurich. It enriches the city’s cultural scene with operatic performances on historical instruments. It was established thanks to the longstanding working relationship with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The ‘Orchestra La Scintilla’ has worked with conductors such as Giovanni Antonini, William Christie, Ottavio Dantone, Thomas Hengelbrock, Riccardo Minasi and Marc Minkowski. The ensemble Opera Nova concludes the orchestra’s artistic spectrum in the field of new and contemporary music.
The Philharmonia Zurich releases selected operas and concertos as well as studio recordings on its own label ‘Philharmonia Records’, which was established in 2015.