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. This performance was conducted by the orchestra's first chief conductor,
Willem Kes.
1888–1945: Kes and Mengelberg Willem 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. For approximately its first 75 years, the Concertgebouw Orchestra had a complex roster of conductors. In addition to the chief conductor, the orchestra had conductor positions titled
"eerste dirigent" ("first conductor"), who assisted the chief conductor with programming, and
"tweede dirigent" ("second conductor"), who did "what he was told." During Mengelberg's time as chief conductor, several of these first conductors included
Karl Muck (1921–1925),
Pierre Monteux (1924–1934),
Bruno Walter (1934–1939), and
Eugen Jochum (1941–1943), each of them internationally respected and holding positions at other orchestras as well. Musicians who served as "second conductor" were all Dutch and included the composer
Cornelis Dopper, Evert Cornelis and
Eduard van Beinum. In 1945, because of the controversy over his relationship with the Nazi occupying forces during the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, Mengelberg was removed as chief conductor and subsequently banned from conducting in The Netherlands. The ban was initially imposed for the remainder of his life, but after an appeal, reduced to six years, applied retroactively from 1945. Mengelberg died in 1951 just before the end of his sentence, and thus never conducted the orchestra again after 1945.
1945–1988: Van Beinum and Haitink From 1945 to 1959, the orchestra's principal conductor was
Eduard van Beinum, who had debuted with the orchestra in 1929. He had become the second conductor of the orchestra in 1931, and co-principal conductor in 1938. One of his specialties was the symphonies of
Anton Bruckner, and Van Beinum made commercial recordings with the orchestra of Bruckner's Eighth and Ninth Symphonies for the
Philips Records label. Van Beinum served as sole chief conductor of the orchestra after World War II until his sudden death on the Concertgebouw podium from a heart attack in April 1959.
Bernard Haitink made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra on 7 November 1956. After Van Beinum's death, from 1961 to 1963, Haitink and
Eugen Jochum shared the post of chief conductor of the orchestra. Haitink became sole chief conductor in 1963, and served in this post until 1988. During Haitink's tenure, the conductor roster system was simplified to have an assistant conductor instead of first and second conductors. Conductors who served in this capacity included
Edo de Waart and
Hans Vonk. The recording profile of the orchestra increased most dramatically under Haitink, with many recordings for
Philips Records, as well as
EMI and
Columbia Records. In the early 1980s, the Dutch government threatened the orchestra with reductions in its government subsidy that could potentially have led to the dismissal of 23 musicians from the orchestra. Haitink threatened to resign in protest, and the financial situation was eventually settled. In addition, tensions had developed in the later years of Haitink's tenure between the orchestra management and Haitink, in particular between Haitink and then-artistic director Hein van Royen. In 1999, Haitink was named the orchestra's conductor laureate (
eredirigent), following a rapprochement negotiated by the then-new managing director of the orchestra,
Jan Willem Loot. In March 2014, Haitink suggested to the Dutch newspaper
Het Parool that he wished to renounce the title of RCO conductor laureate and no longer to guest-conduct the orchestra, in protest at the orchestra's current administrative management. In September 2015, the orchestra announced a rapprochement with Haitink, with a scheduled guest-conducting engagement with the KCO (Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest) in the 2016–2017 season. Haitink retained the title of
eredirigent with the orchestra through his 2019 retirement and until his death in October 2021.
1988–2018: Chailly, Jansons and Gatti Riccardo Chailly made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1985, and was elected that year as their next chief conductor to succeed Haitink. As the first non-Dutchman to hold the post, Chailly served as chief conductor from 1988 to 2004. His recordings with the orchestra include complete Mahler and Brahms symphony cycles and several Bruckner symphonies. With a conducting style described, in contrast to Haitink, as that of "a control freak and precision fanatic", His tenure officially began on 1 September 2004, with an initial contract of three years. Premières during Janson's tenure have included
Hans Werner Henze's
Sebastian im Traum, a RCO co-commission. In April 2014, the orchestra announced the scheduled conclusion of Jansons' tenure as chief conductor after the 2014–15 season. Jansons subsequently held the title of conductor emeritus of the RCO until his death in 2019.
Daniele Gatti first guest-conducted the KCO in 2004. In October 2014, the KCO announced the appointment of Gatti as its seventh chief conductor, effective in 2016. On 2 August 2018, the orchestra dismissed Gatti as chief conductor with immediate effect, following complaints of "inappropriate" behaviour with female musicians.
2020–present In October 2020, the KCO announced the appointment of
Iván Fischer as its honorary guest conductor (
honorair gastdirigent), effective with the 2021–2022 season. In September 2020,
Klaus Mäkelä first guest-conducted the KCO. The KCO re-engaged Mäkelä twice in the 2020–2021 season, and subsequently in the 2021–2022 season for further guest-conducting appearances, including tours to Hamburg and Reykjavík. In June 2022, the RCO announced the appointment of Mäkelä as an artistic partner for the period of 2022–2027, and subsequently as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2027–2028 season, with an initial contract of 5 years. In March 2024, the KCO announced the establishment of the
Bernard Haitink Associate Conductorship, through a donation from Patricia Haitink and the Haitink family, and the appointment of Aurel Dawidiuk as the orchestra's inaugural associate conductor under this programme. ==Character==