The Philharmonische Staatsorchester Halle was a symphony orchestra in Halle that existed from 1946 to 2006, which functioned as a concert orchestra and was last predominantly supported by the Land of Saxony-Anhalt. As a result of the fusion with the , the Orchestra was merged into the Staatskapelle Halle in 2006.
It was founded in 1946 by as the "Hallisches Sinfonie-Orchester" and subsequently operated under various names. After the Robert Franz Singing Academy had joined it in 1953 and Hermann Abendroth had become honorary conductor, the Halle Symphony Orchestra was founded. Abendroth became honorary conductor, it became one of three State Symphony Orchestras in the GDR in 1954.
The orchestra experienced its heyday under the chief conductor Olaf Koch, who led the Hallesche Philharmonie to national recognition in the 1970s and 1980s. The orchestra premiered several Neue Musik works. From 1979, the affiliated avant-garde set standards with its series of the same name. The Philharmonie was repeatedly awarded the Handel Prize of the Halle district.
After the Peaceful Revolution, the orchestra was elevated to Staatsorchester and led by Generalmusikdirektor Heribert Beissel. Well-known orchestra directors such as Bernhard Klee (1999/2000) and Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (2001-2004) now worked as conductors in Halle. From 1998 onwards, the permanent venue was the Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Halle.
Names 1946–1949: Hallisches Sinfonie-Orchester 1949–1952: Landes-Volksorchester Sachsen-Anhalt 1952–1954: Landes-Sinfonieorchester Sachsen-Anhalt 1954–1972: Staatliches Sinfonieorchester Halle 1972–1991: Hallesche Philharmonie 1991–2006: Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle
History Arthur Bohnhardt (1946–1949) After the reopening of the Halle Opera House, the Orchester des Opernhauses Halle was involved in the rehearsal of stage and orchestral works, so that the need for an entertainment orchestra arose.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, . The second Kapellmeister at the Halle Opera House, Arthur Bohnhardt, now seized the opportunity and formed a string orchestra in April 1946, which gave its first concert on Good Friday in the . Bohnhardt then performed with his orchestra under various names, reaching a wider audience for the first time in July 1946 in the courtyard of the Moritzburg as the Halliches Sinfonie-Orchester.
In September 1946, at a meeting of the Saxon Provincial Administration of the Arts and Literature Department and the municipal People's Education Office, the Good Friday for the orchestra was decided.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, S. 23–37. The chief conductor put himself at the service of various political, social and cultural tasks. After the founding of the it also functioned as the .
The first major symphony concert was held in January 1948 in the hall of the . However, the "efforts for more recognition" were accompanied by "political pressure", as chronicler Susanne Baselt summarised it.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, . At the end of the year, the Deutsche Volksbühne became the sponsor of the symphony concerts. After Bohnhardt's resignation in February 1949, Kapellmeister Heinz Hofmann initially took over the direction of the orchestra on a provisional basis. In particular, Alfred Hetschko, at that time music advisor in the Ministry of National Education of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, then initiated the change of name to "Landes-Volksorchester Sachsen-Anhalt" at the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt.
Walter Schartner (1949–1950) In September 1949, the former music director at the Stadttheater Halle, Walter Schartner, took over as principal conductor.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, . Since allGisela Heine: Das Philharmonische Staatsorchester Halle. Halle (Saale) 1997, . musicians had left the orchestra, the now vacant positions were partly filled by an additional staff from Dresden and the Loh-Orchester Sondershausen.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, S. 38–45. Among others, Schartner put a seven-part Beethoven cycle on the programme. With Schartner's call to Weimar, Heinz Hofmann again stepped in as acting director.
Baselt made out a "direct political influence of party and state" on Schartner's successor.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, . After Waldemar Steinhardt from Herzberg and Werner Gößling from Bielefeld, the search committee decided in favour of the latter.
Werner Gößling (1950–1956)
The symphony concerts took place in the "Klubhaus der Gewerkschaften".Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, . Werner Gößling, the new chief conductor, also wanted to expand the concerts to other cities in the state.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, S. 46–81. Besides the classical-romantic repertoire, contemporary works were also to find their way into the programme. Gößling introduced the symphonic works of Anton Bruckner. In 1951, he founded the series "Ein Orchester stellt sich vorstellen" (An orchestra introduces itself).Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, .
After the founding of a third orchestra in Halle, which was supported by the trade union and tended to cultivate light entertainment music, the Landes-Volksorchester Sachsen-Anhalt was able to develop into the in the 1950s. From 1950, the orchestra musicians fell under the "Wage and Salary Agreement for Theatre and Cultural Orchestras of the GDR". Guest conductors Hermann Abendroth, Helmut Seidelmann and Kurth Barth were recruited in the 1951/52 season. In addition, the orchestra among others was involved in Eastern European cultural exchange and in Handel care.
In 1952, the Volksorchester was renamed Sinfonieorchester. This was connected with the integration of the orchestra into the (State budget). Funds were made available for concerts in the Bezirk Leipzig, Bezirk Magdeburg and the Bezirk Halle. The programme now included works by modern and contemporary composers. Well-known artists such as Eva Barth, Werner Heutling and Hugo Steurer made guest appearances in Halle. From 1952, the orchestra also regularly took part at the Handel Festival Halle. First guest performances in West Germany were undertaken in 1953. After the dissolution of the East-German Länder, the orchestra was placed under the Halle. In the early 1950s, the orchestra was also positively reviewed by the and the orchestra musicians were placed in Class I orchestras, plus performance bonuses.
Ernst Sachsenberg was hired as the new 1st Kapellmeister in 1953. In addition to its relationship with the Musikhochschule, the orchestra maintained intensive contact with the Evangelische Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Halle. The 1953/54 season also saw the affiliation of the Robert-Franz-Singakademie and the rise of the Landes-Sinfnieorchester to Staatliches Sinfonieorchester, so that there would now be three of its kind in the GDR: Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle in Schwerin and Halle. Furthermore, Hermann Abendroth was appointed honorary conductor after another guest conducting stint. Furthermore, they now played Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 regularly at the turn of the year and introduced the so-called Estradenkonzerte. In October 1953, the orchestra inaugurated the Kulturhaus in Schkopau.
In the 1954/55 season, the State Symphony Orchestra was given its own music dramaturge, the musicologist Herbert Koch. Famous musicians such as Nils-Eric Fougstedt and Vibeke Warlev were invited from Northern Europe. The next season featured equally important soloists Brünnhild Friedland, Hélène Boschi, Hugo Steurer, Ingeborg Robiller-Roloff, Dieter Zechlin, Helga Hussels, Egon Morbitzer, Vittorio Brero, Karl Suske and Mirko Dorner.
Horst Förster (1956–1964)
In 1956 the orchestra received a new chief conductor (Horst Förster) and a new 1st Kapellmeister (Karl-Ernst Sasse).Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, . Some musicians left the orchestra for the Gewandhausorchester and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig. The 1956/57 season produced the new concert series "Musica viva", which included performances by foreign composers such as Darius Milhaud, Kurt Atterberg, Dmitry Kabalevsky and Grażyna Bacewicz. However, the entitlement concerts at the Pädagogische Hochschule Halle-Köthen met with little audience response.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, S. 82–110. Well-known guest conductors such as Otto Ebel von Sosen, Alois Klíma and Heinz Bongartz came to Halle for special concerts.
In 1956, the State Symphony Orchestra celebrated its tenth anniversary as part of the Hallische Musiktage, in which the orchestra had repeatedly participated since 1955. In addition, the orchestra took part in the concert series "Hausmusik im Handel House".Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle. Halle (Saale) 1999, . In 1957, the State Symphony Orchestra toured through West Germany. In the late 1950s, performances by performers from Eastern European countries (Miloš Sádlo, Stanislav Knor, Josef Hrnčíř, Ilja Temkoff among others) also increased. In addition, the cycle "Masterpieces of the Nations" offered an insight into European musical creation.
In 1959, Harald Unger was engaged as 1st Kapellmeister. In 1961, the orchestra participated in the 1000-year celebration of the city of Halle. It also celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. In 1962, the orchestra made a guest appearance in Czechoslovakia. A friendship treaty was signed with the symphony orchestra in Karlovy Vary. After Förster's departure, and Karl-Ernst Sasse were considered promising candidates to succeed him.
Karl-Ernst Sasse (1964–1967) The decision was finally made in favour of Förster's former deputy, Karl-Ernst Sasse. However, he was not very successful in his programme planning among others the positively received chamber music rights with Rudi Zücker and Horst Uhlig were not continued. Furthermore, Sasse did not maintain sufficient contact with the Robert Franz Singing Academy. The orchestra also did not participate in the Handel Festival, Halle from 1965 to 1967. Although the orchestra board wanted to make Unger music director, his contract was not renewed. In 1967, he was succeeded by Joachim Seidel as 1st Kapellmeister.
Olaf Koch (1967–1990)
Olaf Koch replaced Sasse as chief conductor in 1967. At the Singakademie, Hartmut Haenchen had already taken over the position of choir director a year earlier. In 1969, Karl-Heinz Zettl became 1st Kapellmeister and deputy chief conductor. With this new leadership team, it was now possible to attract audiences to the concert halls again. To this end, entitlement concerts were expanded and participation in the Handel Festival resumed. Koch placed an emphasis on Neue Musik from the GDR and the Soviet Union, in addition to musical modernism. He performed works that "did not quite fit into the demands of "Socialist Realism".Gisela Heine: Das Philharmonische Staatsorchester Halle. Halle (Saale) 1997, . Furthermore, works by Western composers were also performed. From 1969 onwards, public discussions with about the concert plans. For example, an expansion took place at the entitlement concerts in the clubhouse "Marx-Engels in Zeitz". In 1970, so-called "Workers' Youth Concerts" were established, which after the fall of communism operated as "Youth Symphony Concerts". But also student concerts were cultivated.