The Banatul State Philharmonic Orchestra is a musical institution in Timişoara, Romania. It comprises a symphony orchestra, professional chorus, and various chamber groups.
The Philharmonic Society (German: Philharmonische Verein) was founded in 1871 in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary (now Timişoara). Conductors included Heinrich Weidt, Martin Novácek, and Bruno Walter (1898-1899). Performers in Timişoara during this period included, as pianists Béla Bartók and Johannes Brahms; baritone Gheorghe Dima; cellist David Popper; and the violinists Leopold Auer, George Enescu, Joseph Joachim, Jan Kubelík, František Ondříček, Pablo de Sarasate, and Henryk Wieniawski.[1][2]
In 1947 the orchestra was renamed the Banatul State Philharmonic, and eventually simply the Banatul Philharmonic.[1]
Conductors of the Banatul Philharmonic have included George Pavel, Mircea Popa, Nicolae Boboc, Alexandru Şhumsky, Remus Georgescu, Paul Popescu, and Petru Oschanitzky.[1] Gheorghe Costin and Radu Popu are the current permanent conductors.[3] Guest conductors have included Kurt Herbert Adler, Roberto Benzi, Anatole Fistoulari, Kiril Kondrashin, Stanisław Wisłocki, and Adone Zecchi.[1] Jean-François Antonioli was Principal Guest Conductor from 1993 to 2002.
Guest soloists with the orchestra have included pianists Dimitri Bashkirov, Julius Katchen, and Rudolf Kerer; violinists Ivry Gitlis, Gidon Kremer, Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Spivakov, and Josef Suk; and cellists Miloš Sádlo and Daniil Shafran.[1]
Other performers in Timişoara have included pianists Annie Fischer, Artur Rubinstein, and Carlo Zecchi; violinists Bronisław Huberman, Fritz Kreisler, Jacques Thibaud, and Eugène Ysaÿe; and cellists Pablo Casals and Gregor Piatigorsky.[1] More recently vibraphonist Eldad Tarmu has played there.
The orchestra has visited many European countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the former Yugoslavia.[1][2]
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