Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, History and mission

The flower of Vienna’s tradition. Take the greatest composers, conductors, performers and fans, plant them in one place and water well for 400 years. From that fertile soil will bloom a luxuriant classical music garden: Vienna. The flower of that garden — its home orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic — celebrates its 170th birthday this year and has for most of that time been honored as one of the world’s finest. It was originally formed in 1842 by a handful of...