Royal Concertgebouworkest

In 2008, the prestigious music magazine Gramophone ranked the Royal Concertgebouworkest (RCO) as the best orchestra in the world, based on specialized opinions by music critics and orchestra musicians. Relative though such a qualitative ranking may be, the RCO is traditionally seen as one of the leading symphony orchestras worldwide. Striking is the fact that the orchestra rose to prominence only a few years after its foundation in 1888 and has maintained a leading position ever since. This trend is partly accounted for by the fact that the orchestra has known only seven chief conductors, each of whom has had an enormous impact on the homogeneous development and maintenance of the orchestra’s musical quality. Orchestra founder Willem Kes has led the orchestra between 1888 and 1895 and was followed by the RCO’s arguably most notorious conductor, Willem Mengelberg, who conducted the orchestra for half a century, between 1895 and 1945. His successor, Eduard van Beinum, held the baton between 1945 and 1959, to be followed by Bernard Haitink in the period between 1959 and 1988. The first non-Dutch conductor, the Italian maestro Riccardo Chailly, occupied the post between 1988 and 2004 and the Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons between 2004 and 2015. Finally, Daniele Gatti was appointed the new chief conductor in 2016. It is no coincidence that the Royal Concertgebouworkest derives its name from the building in which it resides. An equally important factor in the enormous continuity of the RCO has been its concert hall of superior acoustic quality. Located at the Museumplein in the cultural heart of Amsterdam, the Concertgebouw has hosted the RCO for its rehearsals and performances on a daily basis, from day one. The Royal Concertgebouworkest now counts 117 musicians, supplemented by a staff of 53, comprising 25 nationalities in total.