The city of Oradea, an old cultural center, had an intense musical life, starting with the second half of the 18th century, when Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806), the younger brother of Joseph Haydn, was appointed organist and conductor. at the court of Bishop Patachich Ádám between 1760-1762. Followed between 1764-1769 by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799), the two musicians are considered to be the founders of Oradea’s musical life. However, it is worth mentioning a third remarkable musician who carried out his artistic and compositional activity in this city, namely the concertmaster of the episcopal orchestra Wenzel Pichl (1741-1805).
During Dittersdorf, the orchestra from Oradea was considered at that time as one of the most important in Europe and consisted of 34 instrumentalists, coming from Vienna and Prague. Thanks to Haydn and Dittersdorf, the musical life of the city became rich, diversified not only on the “sacred” level closely related to the ecclesiastical cult and the feasts of the episcopal court but also on the profane level, taking place numerous concerts, theater performances, and Opera House.
At the end of 1768, following some controversies, which revealed the “immoral character of some manifestations in the artistic life of the city and the episcopal residence”, Empress Maria Theresa made a dramatic decision: the abolition of the orchestra and choir in Oradea.
Thus ended a short but rich period of the brilliance of the musical artistic life of Oradea.
Establishment of musical cultural institutions
The art of music with a vastly colored palette was, however, preserved in the nineteenth century. Discreetly leaving the church area, quality secular music will gradually enter the bourgeois halls, from where it will slowly conquer the whole city. With the development of the theater, opera performances will multiply. If at the end of the eighteenth century and in the first decades of the nineteenth century, musical events were sporadic, in the next period they will intensify considerably.
In 1828 the number of opera performances in Oradea reached 83. The music-loving public of the city was able to enjoy the presence of famous works of the era composed by Rossini, Donizetti, Weber, Verdi, Mozart, Auber, Gounod, Erkel, etc.
During this period there are orchestral groups led by Count Rhédey Lajos, Kilényi Dávid, Komlósi Ferenc, Ruzitska Antal.
In the second half of the 19th century, the city of Oradea experienced a real cultural-artistic development. In 1875 the first Romanian choir was founded – the Reunion of Songs “Hilaria”, in 1867 the association “Nagyváradi Dalárda”, then the Orchestra of the Academy of Law conducted by Gustav Weinpolter and Fehérváry János.
Under the baton of the conductor J. Schnitzl, on January 5, 1888, the first symphonic concert in Oradea takes place, an event in which the city orchestra performs the Overture of the opera Tancred by Rossini, Serenade no. 3 by Wolkmann, Variations for Horn by Ekhard and Symphony no. 40 in minor soil by Mozart. 1890 is the year in which the Association of Friends of Music from Oradea-Mare is established, having as main purpose the education in the field of cult music, the organization of concerts and performances, and the establishment of a music school. Under the patronage of this institution, in addition to the theater, an opera section is inaugurated.
State Philharmonic Institution
At the beginning of the 19th century, in the specialized musical society of the city of Oradea, there was more and more talk about a more thorough organization of the Oradea instrumental artists, whose full assertion could not be made outside of institutionalized forms. It was therefore necessary, of course, to set up a philharmonic society, meant to perpetuate the activity already existing even before 1900. The general assembly for the establishment of the Philharmonic Society took place on December 23, 1923. Starting with 1924, the symphonic concerts that took place under the emblem of the Philharmonic Society, the orchestra conducted by Iosif Vamocska performing pages from the creation of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Smetana, and Wagner.
In 1949 the Philharmonic Society became a state institution and was led by famous names such as Gyarmati Miklós (1949), Bálint Lajos (1949-1950), Árvai József (1950-1952), Anton Mureșan (1952-1957), Constantin Dulgherescu – interim director (1953), Tóth Lajos (1957-1963), Piroska Rozália – interim director (1960-1961), Alexandru Firez (1963-1984), Acél Ervin (1984-1991), Romeo Rîmbu (1991-1998), Corneliu Cristea ( 1998-2002; artistic director 2002-2011), Sarkady Zsolt – general manager-manager (2002-2009), Tódor Albert – general manager (2009 – 2017), Vasile Foica – artistic director (2011 – 2019), Meleg Vilmos Tibor – general manager (2017 – 2021) and Kurucz Tibor – artistic director (2019 – present). Starting with May 2021, Carmen Rus is the new manager of the Oradea State Philharmonic.
The permanent conductors of the symphony orchestra were: Romulus Botto (1949-1951), Matolcsi Zoltán (1950-1952), Constantin Dulgherescu (1952-1953), Aurel Popa (1953-1955), Erich Bergel (1956-1963), Miron Rațiu (1957-1990), Liviu Florea (1959-1960), Remus Georgescu (1960-1963), Acél Ervin (1963-1991 and 1999-2006), Romeo Rîmbu (1991 – present), Jankó Zsolt (2007 – present). Under their direction, countless concerts, tours, prints, and works were performed in the first audition, the approached repertoire being polished with professionalism, to the joy of the music-loving public.
World-renowned performers and conductors such as Igor Oistrah, Mario del Monaco, Dimitri Baskirov, Aldo Ciccolini, Adam Horosiewicz, Arkadi Sevidov, Daniel Safran, Gidon Kremer, Ruggiero Ricci, Victor Tretiakov, Erich Bergel, Pierre Pierlot have collaborated with the Oradea Symphony Orchestra. Halina Czerny Stefanska, Kocsis Zoltán, Jandó Jenő, Ránki Dezső, Perényi Miklós, Ruha István, Ștefan Gheorghiu, Valentin Gheorghiu, Ion Voicu, Mihaela Martin, Dan Grigore, Dana Borșan, Florin Croitoru, Gabriel Croitoru, Liviu Prunaru, etc.
The orchestra’s repertoire is vast and includes works belonging to pre-classical, classical, and romantic composers, masterpieces of 20th-century music signed by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Richard Strauss, Respighi, Stravinsky, Webern, Enescu, Bartók, etc.
Due to the professionalism, he has shown over the years, the Oradea Philharmonic Orchestra has been invited to participate in various European festivals that have taken place in Lancut, Assisi, Macerata, Bucharest, has given concerts in Poland, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Brazil, Taiwan, Portugal, Switzerland, South Korea, etc.
