1.
San Francisco Symphony
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The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the Citys Hayes Valley neighborhood, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization. Its current music director is Michael Tilson Thomas, who has held the position since September 1995, among various awards and honors for the orchestra are an Emmy Award and 15 Grammy Awards in the past 25 years. The orchestras first concerts were led by conductor composer Henry Hadley, there were sixty musicians in the Orchestra at the beginning of their first season. The first concert included music by Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, there were thirteen concerts in the 1911–1912 season, five of which were popular music. Hertz helped to refine the orchestra and arranged for the Victor Talking Machine Company to record it at their new studio in Oakland in early 1925. Hertz also led the orchestra during a number of broadcasts, including on the The Standard Hour. The series began in 1926 when the orchestra faced bankruptcy, Standard Oil of California paid the orchestras debts, the first broadcast aired on the NBC Pacific Network, on October 24,1926. and the broadcasts continued for more than 30 years. After Hertzs retirement in 1930, the orchestra was led by two conductors, Basil Cameron and Issay Dobrowen, the French maestro Pierre Monteux, who had conducted the world premiere of Igor Stravinskys The Rite of Spring, was hired to restore the orchestra. Monteux succeeded to the point where NBC began broadcasting some of its concerts, in 1949, Monteux invited Arthur Fiedler to lead summer pops concerts in the Civic Auditorium. Fiedler also conducted the orchestra at concerts in Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco. Fiedlers relationship with the orchestra continued until the mid-1970s, stokowski made a series of RCA Victor recordings with the orchestra in 1952 and 1953. In 1954 the board hired the young Spanish maestro Enrique Jordá as music director, surviving eyewitness and newspaper accounts describe him as having youthful enthusiasm, energy, and charm. Jordá sometimes conducted so vigorously that his baton flew from his hand, szells comments, along with growing dissatisfaction among musicians and the public, led the symphony board to dismiss Jordá. In the fall of 1963, the Austrian conductor Josef Krips became music director and he quickly became known as a benevolent autocrat, and would not tolerate sloppy playing. He soon began to refine the performance of the musicians, particularly of the standard German-Austrian repertoire. One of his innovations was a tradition on New Years Eve, A Night in Old Vienna. Similar concerts continued into the 2000s, though the format has changed in recent years, Krips would not make recordings with the orchestra, insisting they werent ready
San Francisco Symphony
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San Francisco Symphony (SFS)
San Francisco Symphony
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Alfred Hertz on the cover of
Time magazine.
San Francisco Symphony
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Michael Tilson Thomas
2.
Brzeg
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Brzeg is a town in southwestern Poland with 36,381 inhabitants and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the bank of the Oder. The town of Brzeg was first mentioned as a trading and fishing settlement in the year 1234, in 1248, Duke Henry III the White granted the settlement town rights and by the late 13th century the city became fortified. During the interwar period, Brzeg, often referred to as “the garden town”, was considered one of the most beautiful locations on the Oder River and its size greatly expanded after the construction of dwelling houses which were located on the city outskirts. Towards the end of World War II, in February 1945, the Soviet army captured Brzeg, in accordance with the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the area was annexed by Poland. Subsequently, the town’s German population was deported and replaced with Polish settlers from the Eastern Borderlands, since 1950 the reconstructed town has been a part of the Opole Voivodeship. Brzeg was in earlier documents referred to as Civitas Altae Ripae, meaning city at high banks of the Oder river, its name is derived from the Polish Brzeg. The historian Konstanty Darmot, in his book of the etymology of Silesian localities, states that in a Latin document from 1234, the early human populous left behind traces of lithic flakes, flint flakes and other flint related tools. The earliest signs of agriculture come around during the Neolithic Era, the Neolithic culture developed agriculture and domesticated farm animals, this lifestyle led Nomadic cultures to settle in the locality. The time period of 1300–700 BC bears the existence of the Lusatian culture of the late Bronze Age, tribes of the Lusatian culture were Orthodox, being the ancestors of the early Slavic peoples. The culture settled in the region and in large continued to develop agriculture, the natural economy of the culture was based on weaving, pottery and metal works. To follow the Lusatian culture, which witnessed its declension around 500 BC, were the Celts, around 400–300 BC in Silesia, as identified with archaeological findings in Lubsza and Pawłów. Around 100 BC, the peoples of Silesia began trading with the Roman Empire, the ages of 500–1000 AD saw the establishment of the early feudal system in Silesia. The era was characteristic of the establishment of settlements, towns. It is believed the permanent populous around modern-day Brzeg was set up by Silesian tribes, the Ryczyn gords became the main line of defence for the Silesians, namely to protect the river trade routes along the River Oder and the land trade route between Ryczyn and Brzeg. The importance of the Ryczyn gords is demonstrated by Henry V of the Holy Roman Empires army halting their advancement before the gords in 1109, around the year 990, Silesia was annexed into Mieszko Is Poland. During the Fragmentation of Poland, the area of the Brzeg Lands, together with Silesia, came under the control of King of Poland, Bolesław III Wrymouths oldest son, Władysław II the Exile. The most favourable area for the settlement of Brzeg is located between the Castle Square, with elevated ground extending south-east towards the Square of the American Polonia
Brzeg
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Town hall
Brzeg
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List of Silesian cities (in Polish), 1750
Brzeg
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Market Square in Brzeg
Brzeg
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Castle of Silesian Piasts
3.
Province of Lower Silesia
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The Province of Lower Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Province of Silesia, the capital of Lower Silesia was Breslau. The province was divided into two administrative regions, Breslau and Liegnitz. The province was not congruent with the region of Lower Silesia. The province was disestablished at the end of World War II and with the implementation of the Oder–Neisse line in 1945, the smaller western part was incorporated into the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg
Province of Lower Silesia
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Flag
4.
Weimar Republic
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Weimar Republic is an unofficial, historical designation for the German state between 1919 and 1933. The name derives from the city of Weimar, where its constitutional assembly first took place, the official name of the state was still Deutsches Reich, it had remained unchanged since 1871. In English the country was known simply as Germany. A national assembly was convened in Weimar, where a new constitution for the Deutsches Reich was written, in its fourteen years, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism, and contentious relationships with the victors of the First World War. The people of Germany blamed the Weimar Republic rather than their leaders for the countrys defeat. However, the Weimar Republic government successfully reformed the currency, unified tax policies, Weimar Germany eliminated most of the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, it never completely met its disarmament requirements, and eventually paid only a small portion of the war reparations. Under the Locarno Treaties, Germany accepted the borders of the republic. From 1930 onwards President Hindenburg used emergency powers to back Chancellors Heinrich Brüning, Franz von Papen, the Great Depression, exacerbated by Brünings policy of deflation, led to a surge in unemployment. In 1933, Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor with the Nazi Party being part of a coalition government, the Nazis held two out of the remaining ten cabinet seats. Von Papen as Vice Chancellor was intended to be the éminence grise who would keep Hitler under control, within months the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 had brought about a state of emergency, it wiped out constitutional governance and civil liberties. Hitlers seizure of power was permissive of government by decree without legislative participation and these events brought the republic to an end, as democracy collapsed, a single-party state founded the Nazi era. The Weimar Republic is so called because the assembly that adopted its constitution met at Weimar, Germany from 6 February 1919 to 11 August 1919, but this name only became mainstream after 1933. To the right of the spectrum the politically engaged rejected the new democratic model, the Catholic Centre party, Zentrum favoured the term Deutscher Volksstaat while on the moderate left the Chancellors SPD preferred Deutsche Republik. Only during the 1930s did the term become mainstream, both within and outside Germany, after the introduction of the republic, the flag and coat of arms of Germany were officially altered to reflect the political changes. The Weimar Republic retained the Reichsadler, but without the symbols of the former Monarchy and this left the black eagle with one head, facing to the right, with open wings but closed feathers, with a red beak, tongue and claws and white highlighting. If the Reichs Eagle is shown without a frame, the charge and colors as those of the eagle of the Reichs coat of arms are to be used. The patterns kept by the Federal Ministry of the Interior are decisive for the heraldic design, the artistic design may be varied for each special purpose. The achievements and signs of movement were mostly done away with after its downfall
Weimar Republic
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The rebellion, November 1918.
Weimar Republic
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Flag
Weimar Republic
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Philipp Scheidemann addresses a crowd from a window of the
Reich Chancellery, 9 November 1918.
Weimar Republic
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Official postcard of the
National Assembly.
5.
Greenwich, Connecticut
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Greenwich /ˈɡrɛnᵻtʃ/ is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 61,171. The largest town on Connecticuts Gold Coast, it is home to many hedge funds, Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut as well as the six-state region of New England. It takes roughly 40-50 minutes by train from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, cNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Greenwich first on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States in 2005. The town is named after Greenwich, a borough of London in the United Kingdom, the town of Greenwich was settled in 1640. One of the founders was Elizabeth Fones Winthrop, daughter-in-law of John Winthrop, founder, Greenwich was declared a township by the General Assembly in Hartford on May 11,1665. During the American Revolution, General Israel Putnam made an escape from the British on February 26,1779. Although British forces pillaged the town, Putnam was able to warn Stamford, p1270020-300x225. jpg | Putnam Hill, where General Putnam escaped. In 1974, Gullivers Restaurant and Bar, on the border of Greenwich and Port Chester, in 1983, the Mianus River Bridge, which carries traffic on Interstate 95 over an estuary, collapsed, resulting in the death of three people. For many years, Greenwich Point, was only to town residents. However, a lawyer sued, saying his rights to freedom of assembly were threatened because he was not allowed to go there, the lower courts disagreed, but the Supreme Court of Connecticut agreed, and Greenwich was forced to amend its beach access policy to all four beaches. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 67.2 square miles, of which 47.8 square miles is land and 19.4 square miles. In terms of area, Greenwich is twice the size of Manhattan. The town is bordered to the west and north by Westchester County, New York, to the east by the city of Stamford, and faces the Village of Bayville to the south across the Long Island Sound. The Census Bureau recognizes seven CDPs within the town, Byram, Cos Cob, Glenville, Old Greenwich, Pemberwick, Riverside, the USPS lists separate zip codes for Greenwich, Cos Cob, Old Greenwich, and Riverside. Additionally, Greenwich is often divided into several smaller, unofficial neighborhoods. The Hispanic population is concentrated in the corner of the town. In 2011, numerous neighborhoods were voted by the Business Insider as being the richest neighborhoods in America, Byram, Cos Cob, Greenwich, Old Greenwich, and Riverside each have their own ZIP Codes and with the exception of Byram, each has a Metro North station
Greenwich, Connecticut
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Flag
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
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Seal
Greenwich, Connecticut
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Memorial to Col.
Raynal C. Bolling, first high-ranking US officer killed in
World War I
6.
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
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The University of Music and Theatre Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig is a public university in Leipzig. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatory of Music, the institution includes the traditional Church Music Institute founded in 1919 by Karl Straube. The music school was renamed ″Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy″ after its founder in 1972, in 1992, the Theaterhochschule Hans Otto Leipzig. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the composer and Music Director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra and he was sponsored by a high civil servant of the Kingdom of Saxony, the Oberhofgerichtsrat Heinrich Blümner, who provided King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony with 20,000 Thaler. The music schools home was in the first Gewandhaus, the musicians of the Orchestra were obligated to act as teaching staff, a tradition that was unbroken until German reunification in 1990. In 1876 the school got permission to change its name to Königliches Konservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig, the new premises at Grassistraße 8 were inaugurated on December 5,1887. They were built 1885-1887 by the architect Hugo Licht in the quarter of Leipzig. The benefactor was the pathologist Justus Radius, not until 1924 was the Royal Conservatory renamed into Landeskonservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig, six years after the fall of the Kingdom of Saxony. In the summer term of 1938343 male students were enrolled at the Landeskonservatorium and this made the Conservatory the fourth biggest music school in the German Reich after the Universität der Künste Berlin, the music school of Cologne and the school for music and theater of Munich. The Austrian composer Johann Nepomuk David was the director from 1939 until 1945. The school was again renamed June 8,1941 to Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Musikerziehung und darstellende Kunst, Public College for music, musical education, in 1944 the school remained closed due to the Second World War. The new Great Hall was inaugurated 2001 and 2004 awarded by the Bund Deutscher Architekten, the colleges second premises were opened 2002 and theres an orchestra academy in co-operation with the Gewandhausorchestra since 2004 in order to support top musicians. The Institute has a prominent role in Germany because of Max Reger, Kurt Thomas and it offers programs in church music, chorus conduction and organ. It offers research masters in those subjects as well, the Institute of Church Music was founded by Karl Straube in 1921 and 1926 it became part of the Saxon Evangelical-Lutheran Church. As of 2008 the adjustment to the Bachelors degree and Masters degree system is being organized, the education program with major in school music is since the winter term of 2006/07 already adapted to the Bologna process and as such leads to a bachelors degree. The programs of the Institute of Church Music were changed to the beginning of the winter term 2008/09, the school has its own symphony orchestra under the conduction of Ulrich Windfuhr. There were 260 international students enrolled at the time and they come above all from Poland, Russia, South Korea and China. Thirteen of them are scholarship holders of the German Academic Exchange Service, the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre organizes many music contests
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
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University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
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College Hall 1900
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
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Staircase at the Grassistraße
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
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Sir A. Sullivan
7.
Conducting
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Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. A conductors directions will almost invariably be supplemented or reinforced by verbal instructions or suggestions to their musicians in rehearsal prior to a performance. The conductor typically stands on a podium with a large music stand for the full score. Conducting while playing a piano or synthesizer may also be done with musical theatre pit orchestras, communication is typically non-verbal during a performance. However, in rehearsals, frequent interruptions allow the conductor to give verbal directions as to how the music should be played or sung, Conductors act as guides to the orchestras or choirs they conduct. They choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they may make adjustments, work out their interpretation. They may also attend to matters, such as scheduling rehearsals, planning a concert season, hearing auditions and selecting members. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles such as big bands are usually led by conductors. The principal conductor of an orchestra or opera company is referred to as a music director or chief conductor, or by the German words Kapellmeister or Dirigent. Conductors of choirs or choruses are sometimes referred to as director, chorus master, or choirmaster. Conductors of concert bands, military bands, marching bands and other bands may hold the title of director, bandmaster. Respected senior conductors are sometimes referred to by the Italian word, an early form of conducting is cheironomy, the use of hand gestures to indicate melodic shape. This has been practiced at least as far back as the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, other devices to indicate the passing of time came into use. Rolled up sheets of paper, smaller sticks and unadorned hands are all shown in pictures from this period, the large staff was responsible for the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who injured his foot with one while conducting a Te Deum for the Kings recovery from illness. The wound became gangrenous and Lully refused amputation, whereupon the gangrene spread to his leg, in instrumental music throughout the 18th century, a member of the ensemble usually acted as the conductor. This was sometimes the concertmaster, who could use his bow as a baton and it was common to conduct from the harpsichord in pieces that had a basso continuo part. In opera performances, there were sometimes two conductors – the keyboard player was in charge of the singers, and the principal violinist or leader was in charge of the orchestra. By the early 19th century, it became the norm to have a dedicated conductor, the size of the usual orchestra expanded during this period, and the use of a baton became more common, as it was easier to see than bare hands or rolled-up paper
Conducting
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Steven Sametz conducting the Lehigh University Choir, sans baton
Conducting
Conducting
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Andrew Lee Neer conducting with a baton in Detroit in 2011
Conducting
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Giuseppe Verdi conducting his opera
Aida in 1881
8.
Gewandhaus
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Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, Germany, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Todays hall is the third to bear this name, like the second, the first concert hall was constructed in 1781 by architect Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe inside the Gewandhaus, a building used by cloth merchants. The second Gewandhaus was designed by Martin Gropius and it opened on 11 December 1884, and had a main concert hall and a chamber music hall. It was destroyed in the fire-bombings of World War II between 1943 and 1944, the third Gewandhaus on Augustusplatz opened on 8 October 1981, two hundred years after the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra moved into the original hall. The hall contains an organ, Schuke, Potsdam IV-92-6638. List of concert halls Leo Beranek, Concert Halls and Opera Houses, Musics, Acoustics, history of the Gewandhaus from the official site
Gewandhaus
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First Gewandhaus (1781).
Gewandhaus
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Second Gewandhaus (1884).
Gewandhaus
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Kurt Masur lays the foundation stone of the current Gewandhaus
Gewandhaus
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Third Gewandhaus (1981).
9.
New York Philharmonic
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It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the Big Five. The Philharmonics home is David Geffen Hall, known as Avery Fisher Hall until September 2015, founded in 1842, the orchestra is one of the oldest musical institutions in the United States and the oldest of the Big Five orchestras. Its record-setting 14, 000th concert was given in December 2004, the New York Philharmonic was founded in 1842 by the American conductor Ureli Corelli Hill, with the aid of the Irish composer William Vincent Wallace. The orchestra was called the Philharmonic Society of New York. It was the third Philharmonic on American soil since 1799, and had as its intended purpose, the first concert of the Philharmonic Society took place on December 7,1842 in the Apollo Rooms on lower Broadway before an audience of 600. The concert opened with Beethovens Symphony No, the musicians operated as a cooperative society, deciding by a majority vote such issues as who would become a member, which music would be performed and who among them would conduct. At the end of the season, the players would divide any proceeds among themselves, after only a dozen public performances and barely four years old, the Philharmonic organized a concert to raise funds to build a new music hall. The centerpiece was the American premiere of Beethovens Symphony No,9, to take place at Castle Garden on the southern tip of Manhattan. About 400 instrumental and vocal performers gathered for this premiere, which was conducted by George Loder, the chorals were translated into what would be the first English performance anywhere in the world. However, with the expensive US$2.00 ticket price and a war rally uptown, the audience was kept away. Although judged by some as an odd work with all those singers kept at bay until the end, during the Philharmonics first seven seasons, seven musicians alternated the conducting duties. In addition to Hill, Timm and Étienne, these were William Alpers, George Loder, Louis Wiegers and this changed in 1849 when Theodore Eisfeld was installed as sole conductor for the season. Eisfeld, later along with Carl Bergmann, would be the conductor until 1865 and that year Eisfeld returned to Europe, and Bergmann continued to conduct the Society until his death in 1876. Leopold Damrosch, Franz Liszts former concertmaster at Weimar, served as conductor of the Philharmonic for the 1876/77 season, but failing to win support from the Philharmonics public, he left to create the rival Symphony Society of New York in 1878. Upon his death in 1885, his 23-year-old son Walter took over, Carnegie Hall would remain the orchestras home until 1962. The Philharmonic in 1877 was in financial condition, caused by the paltry income from five concerts in the 1876/77 season that brought in an average of only $168 per concert. At first the Philharmonics suggestion offended Thomas because he was unwilling to disband his own orchestra, because of the desperate financial circumstances, the Philharmonic offered Theodore Thomas the conductorship without conditions, and he began conducting the orchestra in the autumn of 1877. He left in 1891 to found the Chicago Symphony, taking thirteen Philharmonic musicians with him, another celebrated conductor, Anton Seidl, followed Thomas on the Philharmonic podium, serving until 1898
New York Philharmonic
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Ureli Corelli Hill, founder
New York Philharmonic
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New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
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The New York Philharmonic Club, a chamber ensemble of Philharmonic musicians, clowning for their public-relations photograph in the 1880s. New York Philharmonic Archives
New York Philharmonic
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Arturo Toscanini (standing in the center, sporting a bow tie and cap) with the orchestra aboard the S.S de Grasse, embarking on their European tour, 1930. New York Philharmonic Archives
10.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
Poland
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Reconstruction of a
Bronze Age,
Lusatian culture settlement in
Biskupin, c. 700 BC
Poland
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Flag
Poland
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Earliest known contemporary depiction of a Polish ruler; King
Mieszko II Lambert of Poland being presented with a
Liturgical book by
Matilda of Swabia, 1025–1031
Poland
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Drawing of the
Battle of Grunwald, which was fought against the
German Order of Teutonic Knights, 15 July 1410
11.
Leipzig
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Leipzig is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. With a population of 570,087 inhabitants it is Germanys tenth most populous city, Leipzig is located about 160 kilometres southwest of Berlin at the confluence of the White Elster, Pleisse, and Parthe rivers at the southern end of the North German Plain. Leipzig has been a city since at least the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The city sits at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, Leipzig was once one of the major European centers of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing. Leipzig became an urban center within the German Democratic Republic after the Second World War. Leipzig later played a significant role in instigating the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, through events which took place in, Leipzig today is an economic center and the most livable city in Germany, according to the GfK marketing research institution. Since the opening of the Leipzig City Tunnel in 2013, Leipzig forms the centerpiece of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland public transit system, Leipzig is currently listed as Gamma World City and Germanys Boomtown. Outside of Leipzig the Neuseenland district forms a lake area of approximately 300 square kilometres. Leipzig is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means settlement where the linden trees stand, an older spelling of the name in English is Leipsic. The Latin name Lipsia was also used, the name is cognate with Lipetsk in Russia and Liepāja in Latvia. In 1937 the Nazi government officially renamed the city Reichsmessestadt Leipzig, the common usage of this nickname for Leipzig up until the present is reflected, for example, in the name of a popular blog for local arts and culture, Heldenstadt. de. Leipzig was first documented in 1015 in the chronicles of Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg as urbs Libzi and endowed with city, Leipzig Trade Fair, started in the Middle Ages, became an event of international importance and is the oldest remaining trade fair in the world. During the Thirty Years War, two battles took place in Breitenfeld, about 8 kilometres outside Leipzig city walls, the first Battle of Breitenfeld took place in 1631 and the second in 1642. Both battles resulted in victories for the Swedish-led side, on 24 December 1701, an oil-fueled street lighting system was introduced. The city employed light guards who had to follow a schedule to ensure the punctual lighting of the 700 lanterns. The Leipzig region was the arena of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig between Napoleonic France and a coalition of Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden. It was the largest battle in Europe prior to the First World War, in 1913 the Monument to the Battle of the Nations celebrating the centenary of this event was completed. The railway station has two entrance halls, the eastern one for the Royal Saxon State Railways and the western one for the Prussian state railways
Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig
12.
Saxony
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Its capital is Dresden, and its largest city is Leipzig. Saxony is the tenth largest of Germanys sixteen states, with an area of 18,413 square kilometres, located in the middle of a large, formerly all German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, the area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony is divided into 10 districts,1. After a reform in 2008, these regions - with some alterations of their respective areas - were called Direktionsbezirke, in 2012, the authorities of these regions were merged into one central authority, the Landesdirektion Sachsen. The Erzgebirgskreis district includes the Ore Mountains, and the Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district includes Saxon Switzerland, the largest cities in Saxony according to the 31 December 2015 estimate. To this can be added that Leipzig forms a metropolitan region with Halle. The latter city is located just across the border to Saxony-Anhalt, Leipzig shares for instance an S-train system and an airport with Halle. Saxony has, after Saxony Anhalt, the most vibrant economy of the states of the former East Germany and its economy grew by 1. 9% in 2010. Nonetheless, unemployment remains above the German average, the eastern part of Germany, excluding Berlin, qualifies as an Objective 1 development-region within the European Union, and is eligible to receive investment subsidies of up to 30% until 2013. FutureSAX, a business competition and entrepreneurial support organisation, has been in operation since 2002. Microchip makers near Dresden have given the region the nickname Silicon Saxony, the publishing and porcelain industries of the region are well known, although their contributions to the regional economy are no longer significant. Today the automobile industry, machinery production and services contribute to the development of the region. Saxony is also one of the most renowned tourist destinations in Germany - especially the cities of Leipzig and Dresden, new tourist destinations are developing, notably in the lake district of Lausitz. Saxony reported an unemployment of 8. 8% in 2014. By comparison the average in the former GDR was 9. 8% and 6. 7% for Germany overall, the unemployment rate reached 8. 2% in May 2015. The Leipzig area, which recently was among the regions with the highest unemployment rate, could benefit greatly from investments by Porsche. With the VW Phaeton factory in Dresden, and many part suppliers, zwickau is another major Volkswagen location
Saxony
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State capital
Dresden
Saxony
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Flag
Saxony
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View over
Leipzig centre
Saxony
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Chemnitz, view over Falkeplatz
13.
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
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The Dresdner Philharmonie is a symphony orchestra based in Dresden, Germany. Its principal concert venue is the Kulturpalast, the orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and the Schloss Albrechtsberg. It receives financial support from the city of Dresden, the choral ensembles affiliated with the orchestra are the Dresden Philharmonic Choir and Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Choir. The orchestra was founded in 1870 and gave its first concert in the Gewerbehaussaal on 29 November 1870, the orchestra acquired its current name in 1915. During the existence of the DDR, the took up its primary residence in the Kulturpalast. After German reunification, plans had proposed for a new concert hall. The orchestras current principal conductor is Michael Sanderling, since 2011 and his initial contract was for three years. In October 2013, the announced the extension of Sanderlings contract as principal conductor through the 2018-2019 season. Dresdner Philharmonie and Philharmoniker official website CDs of Dresdner Philharmonie released by label GENUIN Bach Cantatas page profile of the orchestra
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
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official logo
14.
Komische Oper
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The Komische Oper Berlin is an opera company in Berlin, Germany, which specializes in German language productions of opera, operetta and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from the famous Berlin street Unter den Linden. Since 2004 the Komische Oper Berlin, like the Berlin State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berlin State Ballet, the theatre was built between 1891 and 1892 by architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer for a private society. It first opened on 24 September 1892 as Theater Unter den Linden with Adolf Ferrons operetta Daphne and Gaul, the theatre was primarily a vehicle for operetta, but was also used for various other events and balls. Around 800 people could be seated in the stalls, and the balconies and its directors went bankrupt in 1896 and the theatre was forced to close its doors. On 3 September 1898 the theatre was reopened as Metropol-Theater with Julius Freunds revue Paradies der Frauen and it then grew to become one of Berlins most famous and successful variety theatres. During the 1920s and early 1930s, it was leased by the brothers [Alfred, under their management, it saw the premieres of two operettas by Franz Lehár - Friederike in 1928 and Das Land des Lächelns in 1929, both starring Richard Tauber. However, due to a decline of variety and music hall entertainment the theatre was closed in 1933. In 1934 the theatre was nationalised and renamed Staatliches Operettentheater and it operated as part of the Nazi Kraft durch Freude entertainment and leisure programmes. During World War II, the auditorium was damaged by Allied bombing on 7 May 1944, the façade, entrance hall, and auditorium ceiling murals were destroyed by bombs on 9 March 1945. After the war, the theatre was in East Germany, being that the building was in the part of Berlin. Following repair works and provisional rebuilding, the theatre reopened on 23 December 1947, the 1950s saw various further alterations and extensions. The theatre was rebuilt in 1965/1966 by Architektenkollektiv Kunz Nierade, adding functional extensions. The theatre reopened again on 4 December 1966, with Mozarts Don Giovanni, the auditorium underwent further restoration in 1986, and the stage technology was further modernised by 1989. In 1947, Walter Felsenstein founded and led the resident opera company, götz Friedrich was an assistant to Felsenstein at the company. Joachim Herz became general director after Felsensteins death and served until 1981, subsequently, Harry Kupfer directed the company for 21 seasons, until 2002. The company specializes in German language productions of opera, operetta, in 2007 the company won, jointly with Oper Bremen, the Opera house of the year award by the German magazine Opernwelt. Since 2002, the chief director and Intendant has been Andreas Homoki
Komische Oper
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The Komische Oper in Berlin
Komische Oper
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Interior of Komische Oper Berlin
Komische Oper
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Stage of Komische Oper Berlin
15.
East Berlin
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East Berlin existed between 1949 and 1990 and consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors became West Berlin, strongly associated with West Germany, from 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. In East German official usage, it widespread in the 1970s to refer to the Western part of the city as Westberlin. In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the city that was called Magistrate of Greater Berlin. After the war, the Allied Forces initially administrated the city together within the Allied Kommandatura, however, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a city government was established. When the German Democratic Republic was formed in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital - a claim that was recognized by all Communist countries, nevertheless, its representatives to the Peoples Chamber were not directly elected and did not have full voting rights until 1981. In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were blocked, however, more than one-thousand East Germans were escaping to West Berlin each day by 1960. In August 1961, the East German Government tried to stop that from happening by building the Berlin Wall and it was very dangerous for illegal migrants to cross because of the presence of armed guards that were trained to shoot people in such cases. East Germany was a socialist republic, but there was not complete economic equality, privileges such as prestigious apartments and good schooling were given to members of the ruling party and their family. Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities, in the 1970s wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published detailed instructions for U. S. military, in fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against the presence of the East German National Peoples Army in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades. Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never recognized it as the capital of East Germany, treaties instead used terms such as seat of government. On 3 October 1990, West and East Germany and West and East Berlin were reunited, after reunification, the East German economy suffered significantly. Many East German factories were shut due to inability to comply with West German pollution and safety standards. Because of this, an amount of West German economic aid was poured into East Germany to revitalize it. This stimulus was part-funded through a 7. 5% tax on income, despite the large sums of economic aid poured into East Berlin, there still remain obvious differences between the former East and West Berlin. East Berlin has a visual style, this is partly due to the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes
East Berlin
–
Marx-Engels-Platz and the
Palast der Republik in East Berlin in the summer of 1989. The
Fernsehturm (TV Tower) is visible in the background
East Berlin
–
Flag
East Berlin
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Easter Sunday 1988 Fernsehturm and Palast der Republik
East Berlin
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Karl Marx Allee apartments
16.
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
–
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the hall in which it is based. In addition to its duties, the orchestra also performs frequently in the Thomaskirche. The orchestras origins can be traced to 1743, when a society called the Grosses Concert began performing in private homes, in 1744 the Grosses Concert moved its concerts to the Three Swans Tavern. Their concerts continued at this venue for 36 years, until 1781, the motto Res severa est verum gaudium was painted in the hall, suggesting the priorities of the sponsors. The orchestra gave its first concert in the Gewandhaus in 1781, the orchestra thus has a good claim to being the oldest continuing orchestra in Germany founded by the bourgeoisie, while older orchestras were part of royal suites. In 1835, Felix Mendelssohn became the music director, with the traditional title of Gewandhauskapellmeister. Several other musicians shared the duties with Mendelssohn during his tenure, including Ferdinand David, Ferdinand Hiller, in 1885, the orchestra moved into a new hall. This was destroyed by bombing in 1944, the present Gewandhaus is the third building with the name. The large organ in the bears the original Gewandhaus halls motto Res severa verum gaudium. Later principal conductors included Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, from 1970 to 1996, Kurt Masur was Gewandhauskapellmeister, and he and the orchestra made a number of recordings for the Philips label. From 1998 to 2005, Herbert Blomstedt held the same position, Blomstedt currently holds the title of conductor laureate with the orchestra, while Masur held the post jointly with Blomstedt until his death in 2015. In 2005, Riccardo Chailly took over as both Gewandhauskapellmeister and music director of the Leipzig Opera, with a contract through 2010. In 2008, Chaillys first contract extension occurred, through 2015, however, he concurrently resigned as GMD of the Oper Leipzig, reportedly after conflict over the hiring of personnel without his consultation. In June 2013, the Gewandhausorchester further extended Chaillys contract through 2020, andris Nelsons first guest-conducted the orchestra in December 2011, and returned for subsequent guest engagements in June 2013, July 2014 and December 2014. In September 2015, the announced the appointment of Nelsons as its next Gewandhauskapellmeister, effective with the 2017–2018 season. In parallel, the orchestra announced a new collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Kurt Masur Herbert Blomstedt –1835, Heinrich August Matthäi 1835–1873, Ferdinand David 1873–, baroque Piety, Religion, Society, and Music in Leipzig, 1650–1750
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
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Official logo
17.
German reunification
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The end of the unification process is officially referred to as German unity, celebrated on 3 October. Following German reunification, Berlin was once designated as the capital of united Germany. The East German regime started to falter in May 1989, when the removal of Hungarys border fence with Austria opened a hole in the Iron Curtain and it caused an exodus of thousands of East Germans fleeing to West Germany and Austria via Hungary. The united Germany is the continuation of the Federal Republic. For political and diplomatic reasons, West German politicians carefully avoided the term reunification during the run-up to what Germans frequently refer to as die Wende, after 1990, the term die Wende became more common. The term generally refers to the events led up to the actual reunification, in its usual context. When referring to the events surrounding unification, however, it carries the connotation of the time. However, anti-communist activists from Eastern Germany rejected the term Wende as it was introduced by SEDs Secretary General Egon Krenz, the capital city of Berlin was divided into four occupied sectors of control, under the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Germans lived under such imposed divisions throughout the ensuing Cold War, into the 1980s, the Soviet Union experienced a period of economic and political stagnation, and they correspondingly decreased intervention in Eastern Bloc politics. In 1987, US President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at Brandenburg Gate challenging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall that had separated Berlin. The wall had stood as an icon for the political and economic division between East and West, a division that Churchill had referred to as the Iron Curtain. In early 1989, under a new era of Soviet policies of glasnost, perestroika and taken to more progressive levels by Gorbachev. Further inspired by images of brave defiance, a wave of revolutions swept throughout the Eastern Bloc that year. In May 1989, Hungary removed their border fence and thousands of East Germans escaped to the West, however, events rapidly came to a head in early 1990. First, in March, the Party of Democratic Socialism—the former Socialist Unity Party of Germany—was heavily defeated in East Germanys first free elections. A grand coalition was formed under Lothar de Maizière, leader of the East German wing of Kohls Christian Democratic Union, on a platform of speedy reunification, second, East Germanys economy and infrastructure underwent a swift and near-total collapse. While East Germany had long been reckoned as having the most robust economy in the Soviet bloc, the East German mark had been practically worthless outside East Germany for some time before the events of 1989–90 further magnified the problem. Discussions immediately began for a merger of the German economies
German reunification
–
Berlin Wall at the
Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989
German reunification
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Map showing the division of
East and
West Germany until 1990, with
West Berlin in yellow.
German reunification
–
Brandenburg Gate in
Berlin, national symbol of today's
Germany and its reunification in 1990.
German reunification
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Police officers of the East German
Volkspolizei wait for the official opening of the
Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989.
18.
A German Requiem (Brahms)
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A German Requiem, To Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op.45 by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, a soprano and a baritone soloist, composed between 1865 and 1868. It comprises seven movements, which together last 65 to 80 minutes, a German Requiem is sacred but non-liturgical, and unlike a long tradition of the Latin Requiem, A German Requiem, as its title states, is a Requiem in the German language. Brahmss mother died in February 1865, a loss that caused him much grief, Brahmss lingering feelings over Robert Schumanns death in July 1856 may also have been a motivation, though his reticence about such matters makes this uncertain. His original conception was for a work of six movements, according to their places in the final version. By the end of April 1865, Brahms had completed the first, second, Brahms completed all but what is now the fifth movement by August 1866. Johann Herbeck conducted the first three movements in Vienna on 1 December 1867 and this partial premiere went poorly due to a misunderstanding in the timpanists score. Sections marked as pf were played as f or ff, essentially drowning out the rest of the ensemble in the section of the third movement. The first performance of the six movements premiered in the Bremen Cathedral six months later on Good Friday,10 April 1868, with Brahms conducting, the performance was a great success and marked a turning point in his career. In May 1868 Brahms composed a movement, which became the fifth movement within the final work. The new movement, which was scored for soprano soloist and choir, was first sung in Zürich on 12 September 1868 by Ida Suter-Weber, with Friedrich Hegar conducting the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. In contrast to the traditional Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, which employs a standardized text in Latin, Brahmss first known use of the title Ein deutsches Requiem was in an 1865 letter to Clara Schumann in which he wrote that he intended the piece to be eine Art deutsches Requiem. Brahms was quite moved when he found out later that Robert Schumann had planned a work of the same name. German refers primarily to the rather than the intended audience. Brahms told Carl Martin Reinthaler, director of music at the Bremen Cathedral and this theme—transition from anxiety to comfort—recurs in all the following movements except movements 4 and 7, the central one and the final one. Although the idea of the Lord is the source of the comfort, in the Bremen performance of the piece, Reinthaler took the liberty of inserting the aria I know that my Redeemer liveth from Handels Messiah to satisfy the clergy. Movement 1 and 7 begin Selig sind, taken from the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount in 1 and these two slow movements also share musical elements, especially in their ending. Movements 2 and 6 are both dramatic,2 dealing with the transient nature of life,6 with the resurrection of the dead, movements 3 and 5 are begun by a solo voice. In the third movement, the baritone requests Herr, lehre doch mich, in the fifth movement, the soprano and chorus sing different text, corresponding to each other
A German Requiem (Brahms)
–
Johannes Brahms around 1866
19.
September 11 attacks
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The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11,2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia and it was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively. Suspicion for the attack fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist attacks. Although al-Qaedas leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any involvement, al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U. S. support of Israel, the presence of U. S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located and killed by SEAL Team Six of the U. S. Navy in May 2011. S. many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, on November 18,2006, construction of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site. The building was opened on November 3,2014. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab mujahideen to resist the Soviets. Under the guidance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden became more radical, in 1996, bin Laden issued his first fatwā, calling for American soldiers to leave Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden used Islamic texts to exhort Muslims to attack Americans until the stated grievances are reversed, Muslim legal scholars have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries, according to bin Laden. Bin Laden, who orchestrated the attacks, initially denied but later admitted involvement, in November 2001, U. S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. In the video, bin Laden is seen talking to Khaled al-Harbi, on December 27,2001, a second bin Laden video was released. In the video, he said, It has become clear that the West in general and it is the hatred of crusaders. Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, the transcript refers several times to the United States specifically targeting Muslims. He said that the attacks were carried out because, we are free, and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours, Bin Laden said he had personally directed his followers to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
September 11 attacks
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Top row: The Twin Towers of the
World Trade Center burning
September 11 attacks
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1997 picture of Osama bin Laden
September 11 attacks
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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after his capture in 2003
September 11 attacks
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Flight paths of the four planes used on September 11
20.
Charlie Rose
–
Charles Peete Charlie Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991, he has hosted Charlie Rose, a show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993. Rose has also co-anchored CBS This Morning since 2012, Rose also substitutes for CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley when Pelley is off or on assignment. Rose was born in Henderson, North Carolina, the child of Margaret and Charles Peete Rose. As a child, Rose lived above his parents store in Henderson, Rose admitted in a Fresh Dialogues interview that as a child, his insatiable curiosity was constantly getting him in trouble. Everett Jordan got him interested in politics, Rose graduated in 1964 with a Bachelors Degree in History. At Duke, Rose was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity, Rose earned a Juris Doctor from the Duke University School of Law in 1968. Rose met his wife, Mary, while attending Duke, after his wife was hired by the BBC, Rose handled some assignments for the BBC on a freelance basis. In 1972, while working at New York bank Bankers Trust, Roses break came in 1974, after Bill Moyers hired Rose as managing editor for the PBS series Bill Moyers International Report. In 1975, Moyers named Rose Executive Producer of Bill Moyers Journal, Rose soon began appearing on camera. A Conversation with Jimmy Carter that aired on Moyerss TV series U. S. A, people and Politics, won a 1976 Peabody Award. The Nightwatch broadcast of Roses interview with Charles Manson won an Emmy Award in 1987, on September 30,1991, Charlie Rose premiered on PBS station Thirteen/WNET and has been nationally syndicated on PBS since January 1993. In 1994, Rose moved the show to a studio owned by Bloomberg Television, Rose was a correspondent for 60 Minutes II from its inception in January 1999, until its cancellation in September 2005, and was later named a correspondent on 60 Minutes. Rose was a member of the Board of Directors of Citadel Broadcasting Corporation from 2003 to 2009, in May 2010, Charlie Rose delivered the commencement address at North Carolina State University. Rose has appeared as himself in the film Primary Colors, in a 2000 episode of The Simpsons, Rose and his show were parodied in the Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums. He appears as himself in the George Clooney-directed film The Ides of March, episodes of The Good Wife and Breaking Bad, Rose has attended several Bilderberg Group conference meetings, including meetings held in the United States in 2008, Spain in 2010, and Switzerland in 2011. Member of Council of Foreign Relations 2014, Rose received an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York at Oswego on October 16,2014, during the colleges annual Lewis B. ODonnell Media Summit, for his contributions in the broadcast, media, on May 8,2016, Rose also received an honorary degree from the University of the South
Charlie Rose
–
Rose in May 2014
Charlie Rose
–
Charlie Rose interviews President
Barack Obama in 2013
21.
London Philharmonic Orchestra
–
The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony, the founders ambition was to build an orchestra the equal of any European or American rival. Between 1932 and the Second World War the LPO was widely judged to have succeeded in this regard, after the outbreak of war the orchestras private backers withdrew and the players reconstituted the LPO as a self-governing cooperative. By the 1960s the LPO had regained its earlier standards, in 1993 it was appointed resident orchestra of the Royal Festival Hall on the south bank of the Thames, one of Londons major concert venues. Since 1995 the residency has been held with the Philharmonia. In addition to its work at the Festival Hall and Glyndebourne, the LPO performs regularly at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne and the Brighton Dome, and tours nationally and internationally. Since Beecham, the orchestra has had ten principal conductors, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Vladimir Jurowski. The orchestra has been active in recording studios since its earliest days, since 2005 the LPO has had its own record label, issuing live recordings of concerts. The orchestra has played on film soundtracks, including Lawrence of Arabia. In the 1920s the London Symphony Orchestra was the citys best-known concert, others were the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, the orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society, the BBCs Wireless Symphony Orchestra and Sir Henry Woods Queens Hall Orchestra. All except the last of these were ad hoc ensembles, with little continuity of personnel. This became obvious in 1927 when the Berlin Philharmonic, under Wilhelm Furtwängler, the chief music critic of The Times later commented, the British public. Was electrified when it heard the disciplined precision of the Berlin Philharmonic and this apparently was how an orchestra could, and, therefore, ought to sound. In 1928 they opened discussions about jointly setting up such an ensemble, but after 18 months of negotiations it became clear that the corporation and the conductor had irreconcilable priorities. The BBC went ahead without him, and under its director of music, Adrian Boult, launched the BBC Symphony Orchestra in October 1930, to immense acclaim. Originally Sargent and Beecham envisaged a version of the LSO, but the orchestra. In 1932 Beecham lost patience and agreed with Sargent to set up a new orchestra from scratch, the BBC having attracted a large number of the finest musicians from other orchestras, many in the musical world doubted that Beecham could find enough good players. He was fortunate in the timing of the enterprise, the economy had severely reduced the number of freelance dates available to orchestral players
London Philharmonic Orchestra
–
The
Royal Festival Hall, London, the main base of the orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
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Sir Thomas Beecham, founding father and first conductor of the LPO
London Philharmonic Orchestra
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Programme of the first LPO concert (modern reconstruction of unavailable original)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
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Queen's Hall, destroyed, with many LPO instruments, by bombing in 1941
22.
The Proms
–
In 2009 the total number of concerts reached 100. The season is a significant event in British culture, in classical music, Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as the worlds largest and most democratic musical festival. Prom is short for promenade concert, a term originally referred to outdoor concerts in Londons pleasure gardens. In fact this tradition has been revived in parks and stately homes around the UK at promenade concerts such as the Battle Proms. In the context of the BBC Proms, promming refers to the use of the areas inside the hall for which ticket prices are much lower than for the reserved seating. Single-concert standing tickets for either the arena or gallery can be only on the day of the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are referred to as prommers or promenaders. Prommers can buy full-season tickets instead for guaranteed entry to every concert in the season, some prommers are particularly keen in their attendance. The annual series of Proms continuing today had their roots in that movement and they were inaugurated on 10 August 1895 in the Queens Hall in Langham Place by the impresario Robert Newman, who was fully experienced in running similar concerts at His Majestys Theatre. Newman wished to generate an audience for concert hall music by offering low ticket prices and an informal atmosphere. He stated his aim to Henry Wood in 1894 as follows, I am going to run nightly concerts, popular at first, gradually raising the standard until I have created a public for classical and modern music. Dr George Cathcart, an otolaryngologist, gave financial backing to Newman for the series on condition that Henry Wood be employed as the sole conductor, Wood, aged 26, seized this opportunity and built the Queens Hall Orchestra as the ensemble specially devoted to performing the promenade concerts. This coincided with the adoption of lower pitch by other leading orchestras. Although the concerts gained a following and reputation, Newman went bankrupt in 1902. Wood received a knighthood in 1911, in 1914 anti-German feeling led Speyer to surrender his role, and music publishers Chappell & Co. took control of the concerts. Although Newman remained involved in planning, it was Woods name which became most closely associated with the Proms. As conductor from the first concert in 1895, Sir Henry was largely responsible for building the repertoire heard as the series continued from year to year. While including many popular and less demanding works, in the first season there were substantial nights devoted to Beethoven or Schubert, distinguished singers including Sims Reeves and Signor Foli appeared
The Proms
–
Outside the
Royal Albert Hall during the BBC Proms season of 2008.
The Proms
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A Promenade Concert in the
Royal Albert Hall, 2004. The bust of
Sir Henry Wood can be seen in front of
the organ.
The Proms
–
The Proms 2005. Most people sit, while Promenaders stand in front of the orchestra. The
Royal Albert Hall Organ is in the background.
The Proms
–
A panorama of the 2015 season of The Proms, with the seats behind the orchestra half-and-half with choral members and audience.
23.
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
–
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, formerly Palestine Orchestra, is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was founded as the Palestine Orchestra by violinist Bronisław Huberman in 1936 and its inaugural concert took place in Tel Aviv on December 26,1936, and was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Its first principal conductor was William Steinberg and its general manager between 1938 and 1945 was Leo Kestenberg, like many of its members, he was a German Jew forced out by the Nazi rise to power and persecution of Jews. During the Second World War the orchestra performed 140 times before Allied soldiers, at the end of the war it performed in recently liberated Belgium. In 1948, after the creation of the State of Israel, in 1958, the IPO was awarded the Israel Prize, in music, being the first year in which the Prize was awarded to an organization. Bernstein maintained close ties with the orchestra from 1947, and in 1988, the IPO bestowed on him the title of Laureate Conductor, Mehta has served as the IPOs Music Advisor since 1968. The IPO did not have a music director, but instead music advisors, until 1977. In 1981, his title was elevated to Music Director for Life, kurt Masur is the IPOs Honorary Guest Conductor, a title granted to him in 1992. Gianandrea Noseda is Principal Guest Conductor, a role previously occupied by Yoel Levi, with Mehta, the IPO has made a number of recordings for Decca. Under the baton of Bernstein, the IPO also recorded his works, the IPO has also collaborated with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno in the soundtrack of the anime Macross Plus. As of 2006, the composers works have been most frequently performed by the IPO were Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn. The initial concerts of the Palestine Orchestra in December 1936, conducted by Toscanini, the Secretary-General of the orchestra is Avi Shoshani. The IPO has a subscriber base numbering 26,000, commentators have noted the musically conservative tastes of the subscriber base, although the IPO is dedicated to performing new works by Israeli composers, such as Avner Dorman. Zubin Mehta Jean Martinon Bernardino Molinari Paul Paray Leonard Bernstein William Steinberg The orchestras performance in London on September 1,2011 was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters, the concert was part of the BBC Proms. The radio broadcast was interrupted, but the concert was broadcast again a few days later, the orchestras secretary-general Avi Shoshani declared to Londons The Times newspaper that the orchestra was unlikely to ever perform in the UK again. Nobody was prosecuted for the disruptions, partly because the management of the Royal Albert Hall, american Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining the financial future of the Israel Philharmonic. AFIPO seeks to broaden the reach of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the monies raised by AFIPO are directed towards a fund which assists with the operational support of the orchestra and its musical education programs throughout Israel
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
–
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
Zubin Mehta, 70th anniversary celebrations
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
–
Charles Bronfman Auditorium (Heichal Hatarbut), home of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
–
Zubin Mehta conducting the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra at the
Jamshed Bhabha Theater (NCPA) in
Mumbai
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
–
Bronisław Huberman
24.
East Germany
–
East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic, was an Eastern Bloc state during the Cold War period. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it, as a result, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany, which lies culturally in Central Germany, was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties participated in its alliance organisation. The economy was centrally planned, and increasingly state-owned, prices of basic goods and services were set by central government planners, rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay war reparations to the USSR. Nonetheless it did not match the growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem—as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by guards or booby traps. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the following year open elections were held, and international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin known as East Berlin which was also administered as the states de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989, the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik, usually abbreviated to DDR. West Germans, the media and statesmen purposely avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone. The centre of power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, however, the abbreviation DDR was also used colloquially by West Germans. However, this use was not always consistent, for example, before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt
East Germany
–
GDR leaders: President
Wilhelm Pieck and Prime Minister
Otto Grotewohl, 1949
East Germany
–
Flag (1959–1990)
East Germany
–
SED First Secretary,
Walter Ulbricht, 1950
East Germany
–
Head of State:
Erich Honecker (1971–89)
25.
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
–
The partys dominant figure from 1950 to 1971, and effective leader of East Germany, was Walter Ulbricht. In 1953, an uprising against the Party was met with violent suppression by the Ministry of State Security and the Soviet Army. In 1971, Ulbricht was succeeded by Erich Honecker who presided over a period in the development of the GDR until he was forced to step down during the 1989 revolution. The partys last leader, Egon Krenz, was unsuccessful in his attempt to retain the SEDs hold on political governance of the GDR and was imprisoned after German reunification, the SEDs long-suppressed reform wing took over the party in the fall of 1989. In hopes of changing its image, on 16 December it renamed itself the Party of Democratic Socialism, abandoning Marxism–Leninism and it received 16. 4% of the vote in the 1990 parliamentary elections. In 2007, the PDS merged with Labour and Social Justice into The Left, official East German and Soviet histories portrayed this merger as a voluntary pooling of efforts by the socialist parties. However, there is evidence that the merger was more troubled than commonly portrayed. By all accounts, the Soviet occupation authorities applied pressure on the SPDs eastern branch to merge with the KPD. The newly merged party, with the help of the Soviet authorities, however, these elections were held under less-than-secret conditions, thus setting the tone for the next four decades. A truer picture of the SEDs support came with the elections in Berlin. In that contest, the SED received less than half the votes of the SPD, the bulk of the Berlin SPD remained aloof from the merger, even though Berlin was deep inside the Soviet zone. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany directly governed the areas of Germany following World War II. Also reported was a deal of difficulty in convincing the masses that the SED was a German political party. Soviet intelligence claimed to have a list of names of an SPD group within the SED that was covertly forging links with the SPD in the West, a problem for the Soviets that they identified with the early SED was its potential to develop into a nationalist party. At large party meetings, members applauded speakers who talked of nationalism much more than when they spoke of solving social problems, although it was nominally a merger of equals, from the beginning the SED was dominated by Communists. By the late 1940s, the SED began to purge most recalcitrant Social Democrats from its ranks, by the time of East Germanys formal establishment in 1949, the SED was a full-fledged Communist party—essentially the KPD under a new name. It began to develop along lines similar to other Communist parties in the Soviet bloc, over the years, the SED gained a reputation as one of the most hardline parties in the Soviet bloc. When Mikhail Gorbachev initiated reforms in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, the party organisation was based on, and co-located with, the institutions of the German Democratic Republic
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
–
The 11th Congress in
Palast der Republik,
East Berlin
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
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A SED Membership Card.
26.
National Prize of East Germany
–
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an award of the German Democratic Republic given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scientific achievements, it was given to entire research groups rather than individual scientists. The National Prize was awarded on 7 October, Day of the Republic every year since 1949 and this coveted award could be given to East German citizens, groups, and even foreigners provided they made crucial contributions to socialist culture and science. The National Prize was awarded in three classes, with corresponding monetary awards for each class, on the reverse are the words National Award circled by a pair of laurel wreaths. The ribbon bar consisted of the vertical bars consisting of the colors of black, red. The medal was worn on the right side of the chest. Band 1, VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1960
National Prize of East Germany
–
Nationalpreis der DDR / DDR National Prize
27.
Monday demonstrations in East Germany
–
The Monday demonstrations in East Germany in 1989 to 1991 were a series of peaceful political protests against the government of the German Democratic Republic that took place every Monday evening. Because the church played a big role in them, the Monday demonstrations are sometimes called the Religious Protest. The protests that occurred between 1989 to 1991 can be separated into 5 cycles, the Monday demonstrations started in Leipzig and were spontaneous, meaning that the demonstrations were not planned beforehand. In Leipzig the demonstrations began on 4 September 1989 after the weekly Friedensgebet in the St. Nicholas Church with parson Christian Führer, the location of the demonstration attributed to the success of the protests. Leipzig was freer than other such as Berlin as there were no Stasi headquarters stationed there to stop the demonstrations. Leipzig also had the Leipziger Messe, the Leipzig trade fair, informed by West German television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities began repeating the Leipzig demonstration, meeting at city squares on Monday evenings. A major turning point was the events in the West German Embassy of Prague, hans-Dietrich Genscher had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, in trains that had to pass first through the GDR. Genschers speech from the balcony was interrupted by an emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed Dresdens central station in early October, police had to stop people from trying to jump on the trains, the most famous chant became Wir sind das Volk. Reminding their leaders that a republic has to be ruled by the people. Later, Egon Krenz claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene, the next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989,120,000 turned up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. The next week, the more than doubled to 320,000. This pressure led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, the demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the first free multi-party elections on all-GDR level, for the Volkskammer parliament that paved the way to German reunification. Years later, Monday demonstrations were held in the 2000s as a protest against the Iraq war, against social security changes. In 2014, Monday demonstrations called Vigils for Peace, focusing especially on the U. S. Federal Reserve System, were held in Germany in response to the crisis in Ukraine. Starting with 2014, Monday demonstrations started taking place in Dresden against what protesters saw as the threat of Europe becoming islamicised, first Cycle Total of 13 protests. Second Cycle Total of 10 protests, Third Cycle Total of 7 protests. Fourth Cycle Total of 5 protests, fifth Cycle Total of 7 protests
Monday demonstrations in East Germany
–
Nikolaikirche, interior
Monday demonstrations in East Germany
–
Demonstrators with banners. This demonstration took place after the fall of the wall.
28.
Federal Cross of Merit
–
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only federal decoration of Germany. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss, on 7 September 1951, and has been awarded to over 200,000 individuals in total, both Germans and foreigners. Since the 1990s the number of awards has declined from over 4,000, first to around 2, 300—2,500 per year. In recent years women have made up a steady 30—31% of recipients, colloquially, the decorations of the different classes of the Order are also known as the Federal Cross of Merit. Most of the German federal states have each their own order of merit as well, with the exception of the Free and Hanseatic Cities of Bremen and Hamburg, the order was established on 7 September 1951 by the decree of the then Federal President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to him in a ceremony by the President of the Bundestag, attended by the Chancellor of Germany, the President of the Bundesrat, other than the German president, only a foreign head of state and their spouse can be awarded with this highest class. This Grand-Cross Special Issue has been awarded so far only twice, to former German chancellors Konrad Adenauer, the star is a golden star with straight rays, its size and points vary according to class, with the badge superimposed upon it. 8-pointed golden Star, Grand Cross Special Class 6-pointed golden Star, Grand Cross 1st Class 4-pointed golden Star, Grand Cross 2nd Class silver Square-upon-point, the riband is red with gold-black-gold stripes
Federal Cross of Merit
–
Grand Cross star, special issue
Federal Cross of Merit
–
Insignia of the Grand Cross 1st Class.
Federal Cross of Merit
–
Badge and riband of the class "Grand Cross" (without showing the star).
Federal Cross of Merit
–
Star of the class "Grand Cross".
29.
Commander of the Legion of Honor
–
The Legion of Honour, full name National Order of the Legion of Honour, is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte. The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction, Chevalier, Officier, Commandeur, Grand Officier and Grand-Croix. The orders motto is Honneur et Patrie and its seat is the Palais de la Légion dHonneur next to the Musée dOrsay, in the French Revolution, all French orders of chivalry were abolished, and replaced with Weapons of Honour. The Légion however did use the organization of old French orders of chivalry, the badges of the legion also bear a resemblance to the Ordre de Saint-Louis, which also used a red ribbon. Napoleon originally created this to ensure political loyalty, the organization would be used as a facade to give political favours, gifts, and concessions. The Légion was loosely patterned after a Roman legion, with legionaries, officers, commanders, regional cohorts, the highest rank was not a grand cross but a Grand Aigle, a rank that wore all the insignia common to grand crosses. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously,5,000 francs to an officier,2,000 francs to a commandeur,1,000 francs to an officier,250 francs to a légionnaire. Napoleon famously declared, You call these baubles, well, it is with baubles that men are led, do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning. That is good only for the scholar in his study, the soldier needs glory, distinctions, rewards. This has been quoted as It is with such baubles that men are led. The order was the first modern order of merit, under the monarchy, such orders were often limited to Roman Catholics, and all knights had to be noblemen. The military decorations were the perks of the officers, the Légion, however, was open to men of all ranks and professions—only merit or bravery counted. The new legionnaire had to be sworn in the Légion and it is noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion is a secular institution. The jewel of the Légion has five arms, in a decree issued on the 10 Pluviôse XIII, a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a sash and a silver star with an eagle, symbol of the Napoleonic Empire, became known as the Grand Aigle. After Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804 and established the Napoleonic nobility in 1808, the title was made hereditary after three generations of grantees. Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of the legion among his family and this collar was abolished in 1815. The Légion dhonneur was prominent and visible in the French Empire, the Emperor always wore it and the fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time
Commander of the Legion of Honor
–
Order's
streamer
Commander of the Legion of Honor
–
Medal worn by a Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur
Commander of the Legion of Honor
–
A depiction of Napoleon making some of the first awards of the Légion d'honneur, at a camp near
Boulogne on 16 August 1804
Commander of the Legion of Honor
–
First Légion d'Honneur investiture, 15 July 1804, at
Saint-Louis des Invalides by
Jean-Baptiste Debret (1812)
30.
Johannes Rau
–
Johannes Rau was a German politician of the SPD. He was President of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998, Rau was born in the Barmen part of Wuppertal, Rhine Province, as the third of five children. As a schoolboy, Rau was active in the Confessing Church, Rau left school in 1949 and worked as a journalist and publisher, especially with the Protestant Youth Publishing House. Rau was a member of the All-German People’s Party, which was founded by Gustav Heinemann, the party was known for proposing German reunification from 1952 until it was disbanded in 1957. In 1958, the pacifist Rau and his mentor, Gustav Heinemann, joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany. He served as deputy chairman of the SPD party of Wuppertal and was elected later on to the City Council, in 1958, Rau was elected for the first time as member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1967, he became chairman of the SPD fraction in the Landtag and he soon gained a reputation as a reformer. From 1995 onwards, Rau led an SPD-Greens coalition in NRW, in 1994, Rau tried for the first time to become Federal President but lost to Roman Herzog. Rau twice served as President of the Bundesrat in 1982 and 1983 and 1994 and 1995 and thus deputised for the Federal President. In 1998, Rau stepped down from his positions as SPD Chairman and Minister President, on 1 July 2004, he was succeeded by Horst Köhler. In 2000, Rau was the first German head of state to address the Knesset, the controversial step prompted some Israeli delegates to walk out. However, Israeli President Moshe Katsav supported and praised him for bridging the gap between the two states, Rau had a deep and lifelong commitment to bringing reconciliation between Germany and its past. Following a long history of disease, he died a few days after his 75th birthday on 27 January 2006. The funeral took place on 7 February following an act of state on the Dorotheenstadt cemetery in Berlin in the closest of family. The maxim of Rau was to reconcile, not divide, as his personal motto, Rau adopted the Confessing Church dictum teneo, quia teneor. The quote can be attributed to the French writer Romain Gary, Rau was awarded fifteen honorary doctorates. In 2001, he received the Leo Baeck Medal for his work promoting tolerance. Rau was known as a practising Christian and he held lay positions in, and was a member of, the Synod of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, a member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany
Johannes Rau
–
Johannes Rau in 2004
Johannes Rau
–
Rau's grave the day after his burial.
Johannes Rau
–
Johannes Rau at
Schloss Bellevue in 2002.
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