English The beginnings of symphony music in Teplice 1838-1945
The beginnings of symphony music in Teplice 1838-1945 The Spa Orchestra, the provider of promenade music during the summer season, can be traced back to the very beginning of the 19th century. The first official document from the National Council, responsible for Teplice’s spa music, dates back to February 1831. From the onset of 1838, preparations took place to get the spa orchestra up and running. The key was a document provided by the governor of the district of Litomeric which enabled the orchestra to gain full statute on April 14, 1838. At the time, musical composer Josef Matyáš Wolfram stood at the head of Teplice. His contributions played a significant role in the formation of the orchestra and ensuring financial security for the duration of the spa season. Karl Schmit became the first leader of the spa orchestra. During the next few years, Franz Lagler and Hans Schöttner took turns as the orchestra’s conductors. In 1870, Carl Peters settled down as the orchestra’s conductor and remained in this position for the next sixteen years. It was no longer necessary to dismiss the 36 members of the seasonal orchestra as half of the players were soon fully engaged all year round. In 1886, Karl Wosahlo took hold of the town orchestra’s baton, primarily taking credit for being the first to establish symphony concerts on a regular basis. In the autumn of 1898, Karl Wosahlo retired and Franz Zeischka of Munich’s Keim Orchestra, became his successor. He was selected from 174 applicants during a recruitment for the position and remained there until 1906. He worked on reorganising the orchestra and increased the number of members to 48 in the summer. At that time, Teplice’s spas were at their prime, hosting concerts with the finest personalities the world of music had to offer pianists Eugen d´Albert, Ferruccio Busoni, Teresa Carreño, Conrad Ansorge, Moriz Rosenthal, Emil von Sauer, Ernst von Dohnányi, Frederic Lamond, violinists Pablo de Sarasate, Eugène Ysaÿe, Bronislav Huberman, Fritz Kreisler, Joseph Joachim, Henrich Hermann, Henri Marteau, celloists Pablo Casals, David Popper, Julius Klengel, Hugo Becker, Anton Hekking and singers Lili Lehmann, Vittorio Arimondi, Ernestina Schumann-Heineke were just some of these. All great Czech violinists performed here, including Váša Příhoda and Jan Kubelík. After his departure, the baton was led for the next fifteen years by Johannes Reichert, a conductor inclined to classical music. A more notable character that succeeded Johannes Reichert in 1922 was Oskar Konrad Wille, who divided the orchestra into four categories according to the level of demand and with corresponding entrance fees – spa concerts, working-class concerts including an introductory text, people’s concerts and philharmonic concerts featuring world acclaimed soloists. He increased the number of members to 90 musicians. In the summer, the orchestra performed approximately 150 spa and 18 symphony concerts. During the winter, cycles of symphony music were performed. The orchestra was led not only by Wille himself, but also by guest conductors like Siegfried Wagner, Alexander Zemlinsky or Felix von Weingartner and Richard Strauss. In the years 1938-1945 Bruno Schestak was the last Chief conductor of the orchestra in Teplice. At the end of the Second World War, the closing of the town’s German theatre marked the end of the thriving orchestra’s concerting era.
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