The Philharmonia Hungarica was first established in
Baden bei Wien near
Vienna by
Hungarian musicians who had fled their homeland after it was
invaded by Soviet troops. This
refugee ensemble gathered together some of Hungary's finest musical talent and was directed by
Zoltán Rozsnyai, former
conductor of the
Hungarian National Philharmonic. After two years it moved to Marl with funding from the North Rhine-Westphalia government. Through the efforts of Rozsnyai and honorary president
Antal Doráti, the Philharmonia Hungarica quickly matured into one of Europe's most distinguished orchestras. Soon after its foundation Doráti recorded two Bartók LPs, Respighi, two Haydn symphonies, Tchaikovsky and Arensky on the
Mercury label. An abridged
Orphée aux Enfers (in German) with
Adolf Dallapozza and
Anneliese Rothenberger, conducted by
Willy Mattes, and a
Wiener Blut with Rothenberger,
Nicolai Gedda and
Renate Holm conducted by
Willi Boskovsky were also set down. During the 1970s, Doráti and the orchestra, under contract with
Decca Records, made a recording of the complete
Joseph Haydn symphonies; Again using the St. Bonifatius Kirche as the recording venue, Doráti and the orchestra also recorded
Kodály's orchestral music in 1973. The orchestra made several concert tours, within Europe and in North America and appearing at music festivals. Premieres given by the orchestra included
Hunyadi László (1982) by
von Einem for the orchestra's 25th anniversary, Clarinet Concerto (1986) by
Giselher Klebe, and the Piano Concerto (1992) by
Krzysztof Meyer. In 1976 the Philharmonia Hungarica recorded
Jon Lord's critically acclaimed 'Sarabande' album, an original collection of movements inspired by the baroque dance suites. From the orchestra's inception, the West German government sought to harness its anti-
Soviet propaganda potential. As a result, the government generously funded the orchestra throughout the
Cold War and continued subsidies after the
Iron Curtain fell in 1990. The withdrawal of state subsidies at the start of 2001, combined with the long-term decline in concert attendances, aggravated the financial problems that threatened the orchestra's survival. After Rozsnyai, the chief conductors were
Miltiades Caridis (1960–67), Alois Springer (1968–74),
Reinhard Peters (1975–79),
Uri Segal (1979–85),
Gilbert Varga (1985–91) and finally
George Alexander Albrecht. The beleaguered Philharmonia Hungarica finally disbanded after giving a farewell concert in
Düsseldorf on 22 April 2001, featuring a performance of
Anton Bruckner's
Symphony No. 9 including the finale (Ed.
Nicola Samale, John A. Phillips,
Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs and Giuseppe Mazzuca) conducted by Robert Bachmann, as well as the first German performance of the finale fragment, edited by John A. Phillips, conducted and presented by Cohrs. The concert was attended by an estimated audience of 150 in a concert hall meant to hold 2000 (Tonhalle Düsseldorf), after members of the German Orchestral Union had falsely announced in public that the concert would be cancelled. Plans to rescue the orchestra failed, because there was no political interest any longer to keep it alive. ==References==