History
In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, conductor Charles Munch was called on by the Minister of Culture, André Malraux, and his music director, Marcel Landowski to create a new orchestra in Paris. Soon after its creation, Munch died in 1968, and Herbert von Karajan was hired as an interim music advisor from 1969 to 1971. Successive music directors include Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, and Semyon Bychkov. Christoph von Dohnányi served as artistic advisor from 1998-2000.
During his tenure, Barenboim saw a need for a permanent chorus for the orchestra, and engaged the English chorus master Arthur Oldham to create the Chœur de l'Orchestre de Paris (Chorus of the Orchestre de Paris) in 1976. Oldham remained with the Chorus till his retirement in 2002. Since 2002, Didier Bouture and Geoffroy Jourdain share direction of the Chorus.
Christoph Eschenbach was music director from 2000 to 2010. He conducted recordings of music of Luciano Berio, Marc-André Dalbavie, and Albert Roussel with the orchestra. In May 2007, Paavo Järvi was named the orchestra's sixth music director, effective with the 2010-2011 season.
In 1998, Crédit Lyonnais, which had control of the Salle Pleyel, sold the hall to the French businessman Hubert Martigny. The Salle Pleyel was closed in 2002, which left the orchestra without a resident hall. The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Théâtre du Châtelet both presented the orchestra during the 2001-2002 season. By the fall of 2002, the orchestra had secured the Théâtre Mogador, where it played its next four seasons. In 2003, the French government secured a new arrangement whereby Martigny would pay for renovations to the Salle Pleyel, and rent the hall to the Cité de la Musique, which would then be scheduled to purchase the hall in the year 2056. After renovations, the Salle Pleyel reopened in September 2006 and became once more the Orchestre de Paris's home base. The orchestra will change residence to the new Philharmonie de Paris, near the Cité de la Musique in the Parc de la Villette, in 2014 when the hall construction completes.
Read more about this topic: Orchestre De Paris
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