ViennaPhilharmonia Ensemble

The Vienna Philharmonia Ensemble was founded in 1996 by Peter Wächter, for many years principal of the second violins of the Vienna Philharmonic. It performs in varying sizes: as a string trio, string quartet and string quintet, and as the Philharmonia Ensemble, extended by double bass and wind instruments. Its members come from the ranks of the Vienna Philharmonic and other leading Viennese orchestras.

The aim of these ensembles is to look afresh at the works of the Viennese Classical and Romantic repertoire. They draw on the experience of their leader and his colleagues, on the sound world of the Vienna Philharmonic and its conductors, and on the ideas of the ensemble members themselves.

Over decades the quartet has gathered chamber music experience and performed in Austria, across Europe and in Japan. Reviews have praised its “immeasurable wealth of tonal possibilities”, an “enormous spectrum of detail” and “a wide palette of musical imagination”. Numerous CD recordings are available, among them the complete string trios of Joseph Haydn.

A second focus is Viennese music of the nineteenth century: Johann Strauss father and son, Joseph Lanner, Franz von Suppè, Carl Michael Ziehrer, Franz Lehár and Jacques Offenbach.

Since 2001 Peter Wächter has directed the Philharmonic Weeks in Steinbach am Attersee, where the ensembles appear every summer.

Away from the stage the members teach at orchestral institutes, in masterclasses and privately. They regard every concert as a lesson too, a chance to pass on their enthusiasm for this music.

Peter Wächter, violin

Peter Wächter, born in Vienna on 8 October 1941, was first encouraged to take up the violin by his grandfather. From the age of eight he studied with Erich Graf, later at the Vienna Music Academy with Franz Samohyl, the teacher of several generations of violinists and violists, among them thirty members of the Vienna Philharmonic.

His first engagement took him to the spa orchestra of Bad Gastein in 1961; in 1961/62 he played in the Lower Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra and then in the Burgtheater orchestra. On 1 January 1964 he joined the Vienna State Opera, and nine months later became principal of the second violins. On 1 November 1965 he became a member of the Vienna Philharmonic, and from 1981 he led the second violin group.

He studied chamber music with Wilfried Böttcher. He was a member of the Philharmonia Quintet, a co-founder of the Küchl Quartet, with which he gave more than 330 concerts between 1973 and 1980, and a member and leader of the Wiener Streichersolisten and the Philharmonia Trio. For 41 years he played in the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle; from 1969 to 1975 he served as ticket administrator and in 1975/76 and 1991/92 as an advisory committee member. Since 2001 he has been artistic director of the Philharmonic Weeks in Steinbach.

Peter Wächter has taken part in more than 30 record and CD productions, among them all the string trios of Joseph Haydn and the complete piano quartets of Brahms. His distinctions include the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, the Medal of Honour for services to the City of Vienna and the Cross of Merit of the Province of Salzburg.

Programme suggestion "fifty to fifty – classical music and Biedermeier"

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet KV 575 in D major „Violets“

1. Allegretto
2. Andante
3. Menuetto. Allegretto
4. Allegretto

‚Alla turca‘ from the Piano Sonata KV 331

Johann Strauss Son

• Treasure Waltz op. 418
• Annen-Polka op. 117
• Tritsch-Tratsch, Polka fast op. 214
• ‚Sounds of home‘, song and cárdás from the operetta „Die Fledermaus“
• Wo die Citronen blüh’n, Waltz op. 364
• On the Hunt Polka fast op. 373

Programme suggestion "Into the New Year with Lehár and Ziehrer"

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy – String quartet op.12 E flat major

1. Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante
2. Canzonetta. Allegretto – Più mosso
3. Andante espressivo – attacca
4. Molto allegro e vivace

Carl Michael Ziehrer

• Fan Polonaise op. 525

Franz Lehár

• Free and young, march from the operetta „Schön ist die Welt“

Carl Michael Ziehrer

• On the high seas, Waltz op. 66
• Münch’ner Kind’l, Polka française op. 395
• Let go, Polka fast op. 386

Franz Lehár

• Gold and Silver, Waltz op. 79
• ‚Hör‘ ich Cymbalklänge‘, song and Csárdás from the operetta „Zigeunerliebe“

Carl Michael Ziehrer

• Sensationsnachricht, Polka fast op.418