Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Architectural History

The National Philharmonic Warsaw (Polish: Polish National Filharmonia ) was inaugurated in 1901. The building of the Warsaw Philharmonic was built from 1900 to 1901. The first concert took place on November 5, 1901. It was designed by Emil Młynarski, the first director of the Philharmonic, conducted. Among the founders were, inter alia, the pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski and the financier and art patron Baron Leopold Kronenberg. The building was built in neo-baroque style according to projects of the architect Karol Kozlowski. The ceiling paintings were created by the painter Henryk Siemiradzki.

The building burned down in September 1939 during the siege of Warsaw and was totally destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. During reconstruction, the size of the building was retained, but the facades and interiors were designed using the simplified classical style. The reopening of the Philharmonic took place on 21 February in 1955 with the beginning of the 5th Chopin Piano Competition. The Philharmonic was awarded the title Narodowa (German, National ').

The concert hall with two balconies comprises 1072 seats, the chamber music hall in the basement of 433 seats.

Besides its own symphonic orchestra appeared in the National Philharmonic famous orchestras from around the world, including the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner, Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood, BBC Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim, Cleveland Orchestra, Gyorgy Szell, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy.

Organ

The organ was built by the organ builder Schuke (Berlin). The instrument has 71 registers on three manual and pedal works.