Editing Vienna Philharmonic (section)

===The era of subscription conductors: 1860–1933===
In 1860, the orchestra elected [[Otto Dessoff]] to be the permanent conductor. According to [[Max Kalbeck]], the Vienna-based music critic, newspaper editor, and biographer, the fame and excellence of the Vienna Philharmonic resulted from Dessoff's "energy and sense of purpose."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kalbeck |first=Max |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qOwPAAAAYAAJ |title=Johannes Brahms |date=1908 |publisher=Wiener Verlag |language=de}}</ref> Clemens Hellsberg gives specifics, writing that during the Dessoff years, the Vienna Philharmonic's "repertoire was consistently enlarged, important organizational principles (music archives, rules of procedure) were introduced and the orchestra moved to its third new home [in 1870], the newly built Goldener Saal in the [[Musikverein]] building in Vienna [in which it still performs], which has proved to be the ideal venue, with its acoustical characteristics influencing the orchestra's style and sound."<ref>{{cite web |author1=Dr. Clemens Hellsberg |title=The History of the Vienna Philharmonic |url=https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/orchestra/history |website=www.wienerphilharmoniker.at}}</ref> After fifteen years, in 1875, Dessoff was "pushed out of his position in Vienna through intrigue",<ref>Styra Avins and Josef Eisinger, ''Johannes Brahms: Life and Letters'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 497, {{ISBN|978-0-19-816234-6}}</ref> and he left Vienna to become conductor (''Hofkapellmeister'') of the [[Badische Staatskapelle]] in [[Karlsruhe]], Germany.<ref>[[Joachim Draheim]], Gerhard Albert Jahn (Editors.): Otto Dessoff (1835 - 1892). Ein Dirigent, Komponist und Weggefährte von Johannes Brahms; anlässlich der Otto-Dessoff-Ausstellung in Karlsruhe, Wien, Baden-Baden, Chemnitz, Dresden, Frankfurt am Main, Kassel, Leipzig und Zwickau. hrsg. von Joachim Draheim, Gerhard Albert Jahn und dem Verein der Freunde der Wiener Philharmoniker. - München: Musikverlag Katzbichler, 2001, 196 S., {{ISBN|978-3-87397-590-3}}</ref> In Karlsruhe the next year, he fulfilled the request of his friend [[Johannes Brahms]]<ref name="Josef Eisinger 1997, p. 778">Styra Avins and Josef Eisinger, ''Johannes Brahms: Life and Letters'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 778, {{ISBN|978-0-19-816234-6}}</ref> to conduct the first performance of his [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|Symphony no. 1]];<ref>Styra Avins and Josef Eisinger, ''Johannes Brahms: Life and Letters'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 498, {{ISBN|978-0-19-816234-6}}</ref> in 1873, Brahms had conducted the premiere of his [[Variations on a Theme by Haydn]] with Dessoff's Vienna Philharmonic.<ref name="Josef Eisinger 1997, p. 778"/>

In 1875, the orchestra chose [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]] to take Dessoff's place as subscription conductor. He remained until 1898, except for the season 1882/1883, when he was in dispute with the orchestral committee (during this hiatus, [[Wilhelm Jahn]] of the [[Vienna State Opera|Vienna Court Opera]] served as subscription conductor). Richter led the VPO in the world premieres of Brahms's [[Symphony No. 2 (Brahms)|Second Symphony]] (in 1877), ''[[Tragic Overture]]'' (in 1880), and [[Symphony No. 3 (Brahms)|Symphony no. 3]] (in 1883), the [[Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky)|Violin Concerto]] of [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]] (in 1881), and in 1892 the [[Symphony No. 8 (Bruckner)|8th symphony]] of [[Anton Bruckner]]. It was Richter who in 1881 appointed [[Arnold Rosé]] as concertmaster,<ref>Christopher Fifield, ''True Artist and True Friend: A Biography of Hans Richter,'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, p. 161</ref> who was to become [[Gustav Mahler]]'s brother-in-law and was concertmaster until the [[Anschluss]] in 1938.<ref>see below, "[[#Period under National Socialism]]"</ref> In order to be eligible for a pension, Richter intended to remain in his position for 25 years (to 1900), and he might have done so, given that the orchestra unanimously re-elected him in May 1898.<ref>Christopher Fifield, ''True Artist and True Friend: A Biography of Hans Richter,'' p. 268</ref> But he resigned on 22 September, citing health reasons, although biographer Christopher Fifield argues that the real reasons were that he wanted to tour, and that "he was uneasy as [[claque]]s in the audience formed in favour of Gustav Mahler" (who was triumphing as director of the ''Hofoper'').<ref name="Fifield, p. 268">Fifield, ''True Artist and True Friend,'' p. 268</ref> Richter recommended Mahler or [[Ferdinand Löwe]] to the orchestra as his replacement.<ref name="Fifield, p. 268"/>

In 1898, on 24 September, the orchestra elected [[Gustav Mahler]].<ref>Jens Malte Fischer (translated by Stewart Spencer), ''Gustav Mahler'', Yale University Press, 2011, p. 316, {{ISBN|978-0-300-13444-5}}</ref> (On 30 May 1899, pro-Mahler and pro-Richter factions had a "heated committee meeting"; matters were finally resolved in August when Richter wrote to his supporters "gently refusing their offer".)<ref>Fifield, ''True Artist and True Friend'', p. 270</ref> Under Mahler's baton, the Vienna Philharmonic played abroad for the first time at the 1900 Paris [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|World Exposition]]. While Mahler had strong supporters in the orchestra, he faced dissension from other orchestral members (an unreconstructed pro-Richter faction plus an anti-Semitic one, according to Jens Malte Fischer), criticism of his re-touchings of Beethoven, and arguments with the orchestra and over new policies he imposed; ultimately, "his working relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic continued to be fueled by resentment and broke down completely in November 1900".<ref name="Jens Malte Fischer p. 317">Jens Malte Fischer, ''Gustav Mahler'', p. 317</ref> He resigned on 1 April 1901, citing health concerns as a pretext,<ref name="Jens Malte Fischer p. 317"/> like Richter, but continuing to conduct actively elsewhere (he remained director of the associated ''Hofoper'' until 1907).<ref>Leon Botstein, "Gustav Mahler's Vienna," in Donald Mitchell and Andrew Nicholson (editors), The Mahler Companion, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 37</ref>

In 1901, [[Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr.]] briefly took his place; he remained only until 1903.
[[File:Ferdinand Schmutzer Wiener Philharmoniker.jpg|thumb|Vienna Philharmonic at the rehearsal, Felix Weingartner is conducting. Engraving by [[Ferdinand Schmutzer]] (1926)]]

In 1908, after an interval with no official subscription conductor, the orchestra elected [[Felix Weingartner]] to the post; he was to remain in it until 1927, and conducted at least 432 concerts with them in total, including the VPO's first tour of South America in 1922.<ref>Raymond Holden, ''The Virtuoso Conductors: the Central European Tradition from Wagner to Karajan,'' Yale University Press, 2005, p. 108</ref> Weingartner's interpretive stance was opposite to Mahler's (Mahler employed marked tempo fluctuations in Beethoven, whereas Weingartner decried "tempo rubato conductors"); but like Mahler, he considered himself primarily a composer, and between 1910 and 1923 led the orchestra in at least one piece of his own music per season.<ref name="Holden, p. 109">Holden, p. 109</ref> He was most renowned for his Beethoven – he programmed at least two symphonies per season, and complete cycles in 1916/17 and 1926/27.<ref name="Holden, p. 109" /> It was Weingartner who led the orchestra's first concert devoted to entirely to the music of [[Johann Strauss, Jr.]] (for the composer's centennial), on 25 October 1925.<ref name="wienerphilharmoniker1">{{cite web |url=http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/index.php?set_language=en&cccpage=newyearsconcert_history |title=New Year's Concert: History &#124; Vienna Philharmonic |publisher=Wienerphilharmoniker.at |access-date=29 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412134928/http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/index.php?set_language=en&cccpage=newyearsconcert_history |archivedate=12 April 2013  }}</ref>

In 1927, when Weingartner resigned, the orchestra elected [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]]. He resigned at the end of the 1929/30 season because of increased professional demands in Berlin.<ref>Raymond Holden, ''The Virtuoso Conductors'', p. 217</ref>

In 1930, the orchestra chose [[Clemens Krauss]] for the position. At the [[Salzburg Festival]] in the summers of 1929–33 he led the orchestra in an annual Strauss waltz concert, the forerunners of the [[Vienna New Year's Concert|New Year's Day concerts]] he was later to institute.<ref name="wienerphilharmoniker1" /> Krauss left in 1933 to become director of the [[Berlin State Opera]] (after [[Erich Kleiber]] resigned that position to protest Nazi rule).<ref>Charles Barber, ''Corresponding with Carlos: A Biography of Carlos Kleiber,'' Scarecrow Press, 2011, p. 15</ref>