Editing New York Philharmonic (section)

===Theodore Thomas===
The Philharmonic in 1877 was in desperate financial condition, caused by the paltry income from five concerts in the 1876/77 season that brought in an average of only $168 per concert. Representatives of the Philharmonic wished to attract the German-born, American-trained conductor [[Theodore Thomas (conductor)|Theodore Thomas]], whose own [[Theodore Thomas Orchestra]] had competed directly with the Philharmonic for over a decade and which had brought him fame and great success.  At first the Philharmonic's suggestion offended Thomas because he was unwilling to disband his own orchestra.  Because of the desperate financial circumstances, the Philharmonic offered Theodore Thomas the conductorship without conditions, and he began conducting the orchestra in the autumn of 1877.<ref>[[Charles Edward Russell]]: ''The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas'', Doubleday, 1927, pp. 113, 114</ref> With the exception of the 1878/79 season—when he was in [[Cincinnati]] and [[Adolph Neuendorff]] led the group—Thomas conducted every season for 14 years, vastly improving the orchestra's financial health while creating a polished and virtuosic ensemble. He left in 1891 to found the [[Chicago Symphony]], taking 13 Philharmonic musicians with him.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Another celebrated conductor, [[Anton Seidl]], followed Thomas on the Philharmonic podium, serving until 1898. Seidl, who had served as Wagner's assistant, was a renowned conductor of the composer's works; Seidl's romantic interpretations inspired both adulation and controversy. During his tenure, the Philharmonic enjoyed a period of unprecedented success and prosperity and performed its first world premiere written by a world-renowned composer in the United States—[[Antonín Dvořák]]'s Ninth Symphony, "[[Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)|From the New World]]". Seidl's sudden death in 1898 from food poisoning at age 47 was widely mourned. Twelve thousand people applied for tickets to his funeral at the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera House]] and the streets were jammed for blocks with a "surging mass" of his admirers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Finck |first=Henry T. |date=1899 |title=Anton Seidl, A Memorial by his friends |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924022428597 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924022428597/page/n211 160]}}</ref>

According to [[Joseph Horowitz]],<ref>[[Joseph Horowitz]], ''Understanding Toscanini: How He Became an American Culture-God and Helped Create a New Audience for Old Music,'' New York: Alfred J. Knopf and Sons, 1987: p. 40.</ref> Seidl's death was followed by "five unsuccessful seasons" under [[Emil Paur]], music director from 1898 to 1902, and [[Walter Damrosch]], who served for only one season, 1902/03. After that, he says, for several seasons (1903–1906) the orchestra employed guest conductors, including [[Victor Herbert]], [[Édouard Colonne]], [[Willem Mengelberg]], [[Fritz Steinbach]], [[Richard Strauss]], [[Felix Weingartner]], and [[Henry Wood]].