Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle

The Philharmonische Staatsorchester Halle was a symphony orchestra in Halle that existed from 1946 to 2006, which functioned as a concert orchestra and was last predominantly supported by the Land of Saxony-Anhalt. As a result of the fusion with the , the Orchestra was merged into the Staatskapelle Halle in 2006.
It was founded in 1946 by as the "Hallisches Sinfonie-Orchester" and subsequently operated under various names. After the Robert Franz Singing Academy had joined it in 1953 and Hermann Abendroth had become honorary conductor, the Halle Symphony Orchestra was founded. Abendroth became honorary conductor, it became one of three State Symphony Orchestras in the GDR in 1954.
The orchestra experienced its heyday under the chief conductor Olaf Koch, who led the Hallesche Philharmonie to national recognition in the 1970s and 1980s. The orchestra premiered several Neue Musik works. From 1979, the affiliated avant-garde set standards with its series of the same name. The Philharmonie was repeatedly awarded the Handel Prize of the Halle district.
After the Peaceful Revolution, the orchestra was elevated to Staatsorchester and led by Generalmusikdirektor Heribert Beissel. Well-known orchestra directors such as Bernhard Klee (1999/2000) and Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (2001-2004) now worked as conductors in Halle. From 1998 onwards, the permanent venue was the Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Halle.
History.
Arthur Bohnhardt (1946–1949).
After the reopening of the Halle Opera House, the Orchester des Opernhauses Halle was involved in the rehearsal of stage and orchestral works, so that the need for an entertainment orchestra arose. The second "Kapellmeister" at the Halle Opera House, Arthur Bohnhardt, now seized the opportunity and formed a string orchestra in April 1946, which gave its first concert on Good Friday in the . Bohnhardt then performed with his orchestra under various names, reaching a wider audience for the first time in July 1946 in the courtyard of the Moritzburg as the "Halliches Sinfonie-Orchester".
In September 1946, at a meeting of the Saxon Provincial Administration of the Arts and Literature Department and the municipal People's Education Office, the Good Friday for the orchestra was decided. The chief conductor put himself at the service of various political, social and cultural tasks. After the founding of the it also functioned as the .
The first major symphony concert was held in January 1948 in the hall of the . However, the "efforts for more recognition" were accompanied by "political pressure", as chronicler Susanne Baselt summarised it. At the end of the year, the "Deutsche Volksbühne" became the sponsor of the symphony concerts. After Bohnhardt's resignation in February 1949, "Kapellmeister" Heinz Hofmann initially took over the direction of the orchestra on a provisional basis. In particular, Alfred Hetschko, at that time music advisor in the Ministry of National Education of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, then initiated the change of name to "Landes-Volksorchester Sachsen-Anhalt" at the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt.
Walter Schartner (1949/50).
In September 1949, the former music director at the Stadttheater Halle, Walter Schartner, took over as principal conductor. Since all musicians had left the orchestra, the now vacant positions were partly filled by an additional staff from Dresden and the Loh-Orchester Sondershausen. Among others, Schartner put a seven-part Beethoven cycle on the programme. With Schartner's call to Weimar, Heinz Hofmann again stepped in as acting director.
Baselt made out a "direct political influence of party and state" on Schartner's successor. After Waldemar Steinhardt from Herzberg and Werner Gößling from Bielefeld, the search committee decided in favour of the latter.
Werner Gößling (1950–1956).
The symphony concerts took place in the "Klubhaus der Gewerkschaften". Werner Gößling, the new chief conductor, also wanted to expand the concerts to other cities in the state. Besides the classical-romantic repertoire, contemporary works were also to find their way into the programme. Gößling introduced the symphonic works of Anton Bruckner. In 1951, he founded the series "Ein Orchester stellt sich vorstellen" (An orchestra introduces itself).
After the founding of a third orchestra in Halle, which was supported by the trade union and tended to cultivate light entertainment music, the Landes-Volksorchester Sachsen-Anhalt was able to develop into the in the 1950s. From 1950, the orchestra musicians fell under the "Wage and Salary Agreement for Theatre and Cultural Orchestras of the GDR". Guest conductors Hermann Abendroth, Helmut Seidelmann and Kurth Barth were recruited in the 1951/52 season. In addition, the orchestra among others was involved in Eastern European cultural exchange and in Handel care.
In 1952, the Volksorchester was renamed Sinfonieorchester. This was connected with the integration of the orchestra into the (State budget). Funds were made available for concerts in the Bezirk Leipzig, Bezirk Magdeburg and the Bezirk Halle. The programme now included works by modern and contemporary composers. Well-known artists such as Eva Barth, Werner Heutling and Hugo Steurer made guest appearances in Halle. From 1952, the orchestra also regularly took part at the Handel Festival Halle. First guest performances in West Germany were undertaken in 1953. After the dissolution of the East-German Länder, the orchestra was placed under the Halle. In the early 1950s, the orchestra was also positively reviewed by the and the orchestra musicians were placed in Class I orchestras, plus performance bonuses.
Ernst Sachsenberg was hired as the new 1st "Kapellmeister" in 1953. In addition to its relationship with the Musikhochschule, the orchestra maintained intensive contact with the Evangelische Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Halle. The 1953/54 season also saw the affiliation of the Robert-Franz-Singakademie and the rise of the Landes-Sinfnieorchester to Staatliches Sinfonieorchester, so that there would now be three of its kind in the GDR: Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle in Schwerin and Halle. Furthermore, Hermann Abendroth was appointed honorary conductor after another guest conducting stint. Furthermore, they now played Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 regularly at the turn of the year and introduced the so-called Estradenkonzerte. In October 1953, the orchestra inaugurated the Kulturhaus in Schkopau.
In the 1954/55 season, the State Symphony Orchestra was given its own music dramaturge, the musicologist Herbert Koch. Famous musicians such as Nils-Eric Fougstedt and Vibeke Warlev were invited from Northern Europe. The next season featured equally important soloists Brünnhild Friedland, Hélène Boschi, Hugo Steurer, Ingeborg Robiller-Roloff, Dieter Zechlin, Helga Hussels, Egon Morbitzer, Vittorio Brero, Karl Suske and Mirko Dorner.
Horst Förster (1956–1964).
In 1956 the orchestra received a new chief conductor (Horst Förster) and a new 1st "Kapellmeister" (Karl-Ernst Sasse). Some musicians left the orchestra for the Gewandhausorchester and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig. The 1956/57 season produced the new concert series "Musica viva", which included performances by foreign composers such as Darius Milhaud, Kurt Atterberg, Dmitry Kabalevsky and Grażyna Bacewicz. However, the entitlement concerts at the Pädagogische Hochschule Halle-Köthen met with little audience response. Well-known guest conductors such as Otto Ebel von Sosen, Alois Klíma and Heinz Bongartz came to Halle for special concerts.
In 1956, the State Symphony Orchestra celebrated its tenth anniversary as part of the Hallische Musiktage, in which the orchestra had repeatedly participated since 1955. In addition, the orchestra took part in the concert series "Hausmusik im Handel House". In 1957, the State Symphony Orchestra toured through West Germany. In the late 1950s, performances by performers from Eastern European countries (Miloš Sádlo, Stanislav Knor, Josef Hrnčíř, Ilja Temkoff among others) also increased. In addition, the cycle "Masterpieces of the Nations" offered an insight into European musical creation.
In 1959, Harald Unger was engaged as 1st "Kapellmeister". In 1961, the orchestra participated in the 1000-year celebration of the city of Halle. It also celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. In 1962, the orchestra made a guest appearance in Czechoslovakia. A friendship treaty was signed with the symphony orchestra in Karlovy Vary. After Förster's departure, and Karl-Ernst Sasse were considered promising candidates to succeed him.
Karl-Ernst Sasse (1964–1967).
The decision was finally made in favour of Förster's former deputy, Karl-Ernst Sasse. However, he was not very successful in his programme planning among others the positively received chamber music rights with Rudi Zücker and Horst Uhlig were not continued. Furthermore, Sasse did not maintain sufficient contact with the Robert Franz Singing Academy. The orchestra also did not participate in the Handel Festival, Halle from 1965 to 1967. Although the orchestra board wanted to make Unger music director, his contract was not renewed. In 1967, he was succeeded by Joachim Seidel as 1st "Kapellmeister".
Olaf Koch (1967–1990).
Olaf Koch replaced Sasse as chief conductor in 1967. At the Singakademie, Hartmut Haenchen had already taken over the position of choir director a year earlier. In 1969, Karl-Heinz Zettl became 1st "Kapellmeister" and deputy chief conductor. With this new leadership team, it was now possible to attract audiences to the concert halls again. To this end, entitlement concerts were expanded and participation in the Handel Festival resumed. Koch placed an emphasis on Neue Musik from the GDR and the Soviet Union, in addition to musical modernism. He performed works that "did not quite fit into the demands of "Socialist Realism". Furthermore, works by Western composers were also performed. From 1969 onwards, public discussions with about the concert plans. For example, an expansion took place at the entitlement concerts in the clubhouse "Marx-Engels in Zeitz". In 1970, so-called "Workers' Youth Concerts" were established, which after the fall of communism operated as "Youth Symphony Concerts". But also student concerts were cultivated.
In 1972, the State Symphony Orchestra, the Robert Franz Singing Academy and the merged to form the "Halle Philharmonic Orchestra". In 1979, Hans Jürgen Wenzel founded the concert series "Konfrontation - Neue Musik im Gespräch", which had its home in the concert hall St. Moritz, Halle, partly in the had its home.
At the end of 1989, Olaf Koch was voted out by the orchestra musicians in the Pobenhaus at "Große Gosenstraße" 12. In 1990, he gave his last concert at the Handel Festival. The cultural editor Gisela Heine wrote in the "Liberal-Demokratische Zeitung Halle" at the time: "In Olaf Koch I always saw the great conductor who, in the course of 23 years, developed the Halle Philharmonic into a world-class orchestra. [...] I knew from musicians and from my own experience that Olaf Koch could be quite a creep. [...] What went on in the background hardly reached the public."
Heribert Beissel (1990–1999).
Afterwards, the conductor Heribert Beissel, who was particularly devoted to Viennese classical music and came from Hamburg, was elected to his post. In 1991, he was appointed General Music Director, and the Halle Philharmonic was also transformed into a Staatsorchester. In the same year, the "Gesellschaft der Freunde der Halleschen Philharmonie e.V." was founded, assisted by a Board of directors under Hans-Dietrich Genscher's authority.
Beissel was assisted by Oliver Pohl and Marc Piollet from 1993 to 1997 as first bandmasters. The symphony concerts of the Philharmonic State Orchestra were initially held in the until the restoration was finished. Furthermore, the opera house and the Ulrichskirche concert hall were used. From 1995 to 1998, the hall of the Congress and Cultural Centre served as a temporary venue. In 1998, Beissel inaugurated the Great Hall of the Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Halle in the , the orchestra's first permanent venue. In addition, concert series were held in the auditorium of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg ("Viennese Classical Music"), at the Neues Theater ("Baroque Music") and at the (New Music with the Ensemble Konfrontation). Furthermore, there was a popular symphonic series with "Bella Musica". For special and choral concerts, the Halle Cathedral and the St. Moritz, Halle were available. Last but not least, the Handel House was used for chamber music and the for baroque matinées, as well as the and the courtyard of the Handel House for open-air concerts. During Beissel's tenure as General Music Director, the orchestra gave guest performances in Argentina, Spain and Austria, among others.
After Beissel's tenure ended in 1999/2000, Bernhard Klee took over a permanent guest conducting position in Halle.
Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (2001–2004).
From 2001 to 2004, Wolf-Dieter Hauschild was Chief Conductor of the Halle Philharmonic State Orchestra. He planned a combined programme of modern and classical music including an integrated jazz concert and a Concert performance. Hauschild, however, then left the orchestra prematurely because of the threatened merger with the Orchester des Opernhauses Halle.
Heribert Esser (2004–2005).
The last chief conductor from 2004 was Heribert Esser, who transferred the orchestra to the new concert and theatre orchestra, Staatskapelle Halle.