The New York Philharmonic in Europe

Touring has been part of the New York Philharmonic's DNA since its first international trip to Europe, in 1930.

Join the Orchestra on a virtual journey through its history in London, Cologne, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Dresden — cities it had been scheduled to visit in May 2020.

London

In 1930 the United States was still bone dry under Prohibition, but the ship the New York Philharmonic sailed upon to its first European stop was not.

High spirits and rave reviews for concerts led by then Music Director Arturo Toscanini followed in London, setting the tone for a long friendship; the Orchestra has since returned on eight different tours, including recent residencies at the Barbican Centre.

In 1955 the New York Philharmonic and then Music Director Dimitri Mitropoulos traveled on the 1955 European Tour. Here instrument cases are loaded onto the plane, which flew out of Idlewild Airport, now known as John F. Kennedy International Airport. After visiting the continent's musical capitals, including the Philharmonic's first trip to Greece, the tour concluded with two concerts in London that featured pianist Myra Hess and violinist Nathan Milstein.

The Philharmonic enjoys frequent trips to London to this day. Here violinist Hae-Young Ham strolls past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament during the Philharmonic's 2015 residency at the Barbican Centre.

Cologne

Under the direction of then Music Director Kurt Masur, the Philharmonic made its first-ever appearance in Cologne, Germany, in 1995 and returned three years later for a residency of eight concerts during the Kölner Philharmonie’s Tchaikovsky Festival. The city on the Rhine became a favorite designation, with the Orchestra returning there on six more tours, including those led by subsequent Music Directors Lorin Maazel and Alan Gilbert.

When Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic performed at the Kölner Philharmonie in 2000, listeners enjoyed an al fresco broadcast outside the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral).

Glenn Dicterow, Soloist
Kölner Philharmonie, September 6, 2002

Then Music Director Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic take a bow in the Kölner Philharmonie, 2015.

The Kölner Philharmonie knows how to treat musicians well. Once offstage New York Philharmonic musicians are offered Kölsch, a specialty beer brewed in Cologne. Pianist Eric Huebner and violinists Elizabeth Zeltser and Yulia Ziskel are among the musicians accepting the hospitality.

Luxembourg

The Old-World charms of tiny Luxembourg have been a frequent 21st-century element of Philharmonic travels, with six tour stops since 2005, have during the tenures of Music Directors Lorin Maazel and Alan Gilbert.

Then Principal Clarinet Stanley Drucker and his wife, Naomi, admire the view during their free time in Luxembourg, 2005.

The EUROPE / SPRING 2017 tour brought the Orchestra to the Philharmonie Luxembourg.

When architect Christian de Portzamparc’s plan to surround the hall with trees proved impossible, he installed 827 vertical lines instead, “enabling the public to either see or forget their surroundings.”

Audience and Orchestra assemble in Philharmonie Luxembourg’s 1,500-seat Grand Auditorium for the evening’s program of works by John Adams, Prokofiev with violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Berlioz.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam’s famed Concertgebouw has been a destination for the New York Philharmonic on eight different tours, under five different music directors. (The planned return to this city, this year, would have been led by current Music Director Jaap van Zweden, a native son.) Surprisingly, the first was not until 1968, led by then Music Director Leonard Bernstein.

Leonard Bernstein on the streets of Amsterdam, 1976.

de Volkskrant, September 21, 1968

Robert Rinehart, Viola, The Mr. and Mrs. G. Chris Andersen Chair

Evelyn Ames, right, wrote this letter to patrons of the New York Philharmonic about the 1968 Tour of Europe and Israel. She was a poet and author, as well as the wife of Amyas Ames, President of the New York Philharmonic. September 30, 1968.

Leah Ferguson, Viola

The day of the New York Philharmonic's first concert in 2015 at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill warms up in front of the hall.

Berlin

Philharmonic tour appearances in Berlin have mirrored the city's historic ups and downs. Following the first performances on the 1930 tour, led by then Music Director Arturo Toscanini, political strife and war kept the Orchestra away until 1955. By then the Cold War raged, and soon after Leonard Bernstein, then Music Director, led performances there in 1959 and 1960, the Berlin Wall divided the city. After the wall fell in 1989, Bernstein returned with Philharmonic musicians and others from around the world for a triumphant performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Then Associate Principal Horn Jerome Ashby warms up in the Berlin Konzerthaus, 1988.

Fall of the Wall

On Christmas Day, 1989, Leonard Bernstein conducted performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on both sides of the crumbling Berlin Wall, with an orchestra made up of musicians from East and West Germany, as well as the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and the Kirov-Orchester Leningrad.

Associate Principal Oboe Sherry Sylar was one member of the Philharmonic who performed in this momentous concert. Here she is, in 1989, seen in front of a remaining portion of the Berlin Wall.

Sherry Sylar, Associate Principal Oboe

A pint in Germany

New York Philharmonic Percussionist Elden "Buster" Bailey snapped this photo of his fellow musicians relaxing in a Biergarten while on tour in 1975.

Dresden

Dresden was part of East Germany, and cultural exchanges with the West were rare when the Philharmonic first traveled there in 1985, with then Music Director Zubin Mehta leading a program that included music by a living American composer, Jacob Druckman. The Orchestra did not return for ten years, when then Music Director Lorin Maazel led thee concerts to celebrate the reconsecration of the Frauenkirche, the historic cathedral that had been left in ruins after World War II and newly reconstructed after Germany’s reunification.

Diary from 1930

These datebooks were distributed to Philharmonic musicians and staff for use on the 1930 European tour, outlining travel plans, rehearsal schedules, and concert schedules for the entire five-week tour.

Violinist Louis Sherman used the extra space in his datebook to record each day's activities. He wrote that he had time to do some sightseeing during their last day in Dresden.

Kenneth Mirkin, Viola

Photo: Painted glass slide depicting Dresden's Frauenkirche before WWII, created by Ernest Schelling for use in New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts

An architectural marvel, restored

The Frauenkirche, built in 1738, was reduced to rubble during World War II by the Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945. Reconstruction started decades later, in 1993, and took 12 years to complete.

The New York Philharmonic was honored to perform in the concerts celebrating the reconsecration of the cathedral in November 2005.