Editing Vienna Philharmonic (section)

===Precursors and formation===
Until the 1830s, orchestral performance in Vienna was done by ''ad hoc'' orchestras, consisting of professional and (often) amateur musicians brought together for specific performances. In 1833, [[Franz Lachner]] formed the forerunner of the Vienna Philharmonic, the {{Lang|de|Künstlerverein}} – an orchestra of professional musicians from the Vienna Court Opera (''Wiener Hofoper'', now the [[Vienna State Opera]]); it gave four concerts, each including a [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] symphony.<ref name=MC>[[Mosco Carner]], "Vienna," section 5, iv (c), in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', 1980, volume 19, p. 730</ref> The Vienna Philharmonic itself arose nine years later, in 1842, hatched by a group who met regularly at the inn 'Zum Amor', including the poet [[Nikolaus Lenau]], newspaper editor [[August Schmidt (journalist)|August Schmidt]], critic Alfred Becker, violinist Karlz Holz, Count Laurecin, and composer [[Otto Nicolai]] who was also the principal conductor of a standing orchestra at a Viennese theater.<ref name=MC /> [[Mosco Carner]] wrote in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' that "Nicolai was the least enthusiastic about the idea, and had to be persuaded by the others; he conducted the first [concert] on 28 March 1842."<ref name=MC /> The orchestra was fully independent, consisted of members of the ''Hofoper'' orchestra, and made all of its decisions by a democratic vote of its members; it had its day-to-day management handled by a democratically elected body, the administrative committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/index.php?set_language=en&cccpage=history_early|title=Vienna Philharmonic &#124; Orchestra, Concerts, New Years Concert|publisher=Wienerphilharmoniker.at|access-date=29 April 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524162031/http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/index.php?set_language=en|archivedate=24 May 2013}}</ref>

Nicolai and the orchestra gave only 11 concerts in the ensuing five years, and when Nicolai left Vienna in 1847, the orchestra nearly folded (''New Grove'' notes the disruption caused by the [[Revolution of 1848]] as a hindrance). Between 1854 and 1857, [[Karl Eckert]] – the first permanent conductor of the Vienna Court Opera (''Wiener Hofoper'')– led the (associated) Vienna Philharmonic in a few concerts. In 1857, Eckert was made Director of the ''Hofoper'' – the first musician to have been given the post;<ref>Mosco Carner, "Vienna," section 5, iv (c), in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 1980, volume 19, p. 724</ref> in 1860, he conducted four subscription concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic. Since that time,
writes Vienna Philharmonic violinist and president [[Clemens Hellsberg]], "the 'Philharmonic Concerts' have been staged without interruption."<ref>Clemans Hellsberg, "The History of the Vienna Philharmonic: The Philharmonic Subscription Concerts," Vienna Philharmonic website, URL=http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/orchestra/history</ref>