The St Petersburg Philharmonic is the oldest symphonic ensemble in the former USSR. It origins can be traced back to a group of music loving Russian aristocrats who founded Europe’s first Philharmonic Society in 1802. The official birthday of the orchestra was when a group was formed on the foundations of the former "Imperial Music Choir" in 1882. Until the beginning of the 20th century it served mainly the aristocratic circles. On 19th October 1917, during The Great October Revolution, the orchestra was changed by decree into a state orchestra and gave its first public concert in the Soviet Union on 8th November. A year later the orchestra was incorporated into the newly founded Petrograd Philharmonic, which became the first major musical organisation in the USSR. After the Revolution, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic spent its first years visiting factories and acquainting the working classes with their music. During these years, the orchestra was directed by outstanding conductors such as Emil Cooper, Nicolai Malko, Glazunov, Koussevitsky, Fitelberg, Tcherepain, Fried, Walter, Klemperer, Kleiber and Knappertsbush. In the 1930s the orchestra’s music directors were Alexander Gauk and the Austrian conductor, Fritz Stiedry. Mravinsky took over as Music director in 1938 and continued in this position for almost 50 years. There was a great artistic friendship between Mravinsky and Shostakovich and Mravinsky became the first and the most renowned interpreter of Shostakovich's works. The orchestra frequently gave première performances of his works which now take a special place in the orchestra's repertoire. After Mravinsky's death in 1988 Yuri Temirkanov was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestra. The St Petersburg Philharmonic was the first Soviet orchestra to tour abroad. After the war, the orchestra toured over 25 countries in Europe, Asia and America conducted by Mravinsky, Stokowski, Munch, Cluytens, Markevitch, Josef Krips, Kodaly, Britten and Temiraknov. Through its touring and recordings, the Orchestra has become famous all over the world. In 1991, shortly after the renaming of the city, the Orchestra changed its name from the Leningrad Philharmonic to the St Petersburg Philharmonic. During the past ten years the orchestra has completed many successful tours throughout the world which have included regular appearances at major summer festivals such as Lucerne, Salzburg, Edinburgh and the BBC Proms as well as substantial tours throughout Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the United Kingdom, the USA, South America and Japan. In 1998 the orchestra completed a highly successful Far East tour and was the first orchestra to perform in the newly built concert hall in Kuala Lumpur - the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS. Their pan-European tours receive widespread acclaim as do their special residences such as the successful St. Petersburg Festival in London in June 1999, and Salzburg and Vienna in 2002. The Royal Gala performance in London in June 2002 received rave reviews, including being designated by The Guardian as ‘the greatest orchestra in the world’. In 2004, the Orchestra toured Germany, Austria, Slovenia and the Netherlands in February 04 to great acclaim, and also undertook a highly successful tour of prestigious European festivals including the BBC Proms, Helsinki, Rheingau, MDR and Lucerne Festivals. 2005 started with a 3 concert residency at the new Sage Hall in Gateshead, UK, which received fantastic reviews, followed by a very successful tour in Portugal, Spain, and France. Future tours include Spain, Italy, USA and the UK. The orchestra can be heard with Yuri Temirkanov conducting on BMG Classics, with Mariss Jansons on EMI and with Vladimir Ashkenazy on DECCA.