The Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra bears an illustrious and long tradition.
Founded in 1856, until 1980 it was known as the National Orchestra of the Opera of Monte-Carlo and it has appeared as such and also since 1980 as the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra on many celebrated operatic and orchestral recordings.
Some of the most sought after conductors of the last 100 years have given concerts with the Orchestra. The list includes Arturo Toscanini, Richard Strauss, Erich Kleiber, Victor de Sabata, Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir John Barbirolli, Leopold Stokowski, Charles Munch, Kyril Kondrashin, Rafael Kubelik, Eugen Jochum, Leonard Bernstein, Sir Georg Solti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Zubin Mehta and Lorin Maazel.
The Orchestra´s past Music Directors have included Louis Fremaux, Paul Paray, Edouard van Remoortel, Igor Markevitch, Lovro von Matacic, Lawrence Foster, Gianluigi Gelmetti and James De Preist.
Since 2000 Marek Janowski has been the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra´s Artistic and Music Director, heralding a vital new era in the Orchestra´s history.
Under Maestro Janowski the Orchestra´s artistic status has been notably enhanced and its repertoire significantly extended. An expansion from 85 to 100 players has taken place, with the new musicians appointed after auditions of a large number of outstanding young players from international parts.
A whole new range of concert series includes Sunday morning coffee concerts specializing in the music of Haydn and his time, lunch-time chamber concerts, concerts for young people and contemporary music events.
These complement the Orchestra´s major large scale concerts which are given in its newly refurbished home, the Auditorium Rainier Trois and also the huge hi-tech arts center the Grimaldi Forum, both of which are located on Monte-Carlo´s Mediterranean sea front with its spectacular views of the French Riviera.
For these concerts, Maestro Janowski has introduced a great deal of repertoire never before heard in the Principality of Monaco, from ambitious vast scale romantic works to the latest experimental contemporary music.
In the summer the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra´s concerts transfer to one of the most idyllic venues in the world for a musical experience.
His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III makes available the open-air courtyard of the Monaco Palace, where on balmy Mediterranean nights the Orchestra and international soloists perform in a remarkably rich and mellow acoustic for an outdoor location.
In his first season he presented the three piano concertos of Bartók in one evening, Messiaen´s Des Canyons aux étoiles, and a concert of contemporary music pairing works by Betsy Jolas and Edith Canat de Chizy with compositions by Messiaen and Dutilleux. Some highlights of the previous year are Strauss´s Alpine Symphony, Henze´s Ninth Symphony and a performance of Berlioz´s Grande Messe des Morts with some hundreds of performers, to mark the bi-centenary of the composer´s birth.
Some of the world´s most sought after soloists also appear with the Orchestra throughout its entire annual season and in total the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra now offers Monaco a high quality diversity that gives the Principality a new international sophistication in its concert life.
In addition to its regular concert season, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra also plays for the productions of the Monte-Carlo Opera and the Monte-Carlo Ballet, for which last century it performed in historical premieres of ballets of the Serge Diaghilev era and operas of, amongst others, Massenet, Ravel and Puccini.
The Orchestra´s concert tours have taken it to Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and the United States and to the festivals of Dresden, Leipzig, Prague, Montreux, Lucca, Ravenna, Menton, Aix-en-Provence, Lyon, Lisbon, Ankara and Athens.
Under the presidency of HRH the Princess of Hanover and with the continued support of HSH Prince Rainier III and the Government, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra is flourishing in its exciting new era of artistic expansion.
