Concertgebouw

The Royal Concertgebouw (Dutch: Koninklijk Concertgebouw, pronounced [ˌkoːnɪnklək kɔnˈsɛrt.xəˌbʌu̯]) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building". On 11 April 2013, on occasion of the building's 125th anniversary, Queen Beatrix bestowed the Royal Title "Koninklijk" upon the building, as she did previously on to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Because of its highly regarded acoustics, the Concertgebouw is considered one of the finest concert halls in the world, along with places such as Boston's Symphony Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna.

History

The architect of the building was Adolf Leonard van Gendt, who was inspired by the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, built two years earlier (and destroyed in 1943).

Construction began in 1883 in a pasture that was then outside the city, in Nieuwer-Amstel, a municipality that in 1964 became Amstelveen. A total of 2,186 piles of length twelve to thirteen metres (40 to 43 ft) were sunk into the soil.

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Dutch: Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, pronounced [ˌkoːnɪnklək kɔnˈsɛrtxəbʌu̯ɔrˌkɛst]) is a symphony orchestra in the Netherlands, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). In 1988, Queen Beatrix conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra. It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras, having topped numerous polls.

History

The Concertgebouw opened on 11 April 1888. The Concertgebouw Orchestra was established several months later, and gave its first concert in the Concertgebouw on 3 November 1888, conducted by the orchestra's first chief conductor, Willem Kes.

1888–1945: Kes and Mengelberg

Kes served as the orchestra's chief conductor from its 1888 founding to 1895. In 1895, Willem Mengelberg became chief conductor and remained in this position for fifty years, an unusually long tenure for a music director. He is generally regarded as having brought the orchestra to a level of major international significance, with a particular championing of such then-contemporary composers as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.

Orchestra

An orchestra (/ˈɔːrkᵻstrə/ or US /ˈɔːrˌkɛstrə/; Italian: [orˈkɛstra]) is a large instrumental ensemble used in classical music that contains sections of string (violin, viola, cello and double bass), brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes be grouped into a fifth section such as a keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and, for 20th and 21st century compositions, electric and electronic instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus. The orchestra grew by accretion throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, but changed very little in composition during the course of the 20th century.

Royal

Royal may refer to:

Places

United States

Elsewhere

Schools

Companies