FIRST-CLASS PERFORMANCES EVERY EVENING
ORCHESTRA OF THE UNITED STAGES OF VIENNA
The Orchestra of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien was founded in 1987. Today it consists of 80 instrumentalists from various genres, who have developed into a unified and highly acclaimed ensemble over the past decades. The orchestra plays first-class performances of musicals in the VBW theaters every evening and is also active in the jazz and big band field due to its high quality. In addition, it impresses with its interpretations of film music and its participation in operettas and modern chamber operas as well as numerous concert series at home and abroad.
ONE OF THE PERMANENT ENSEMBLES IN THE VIENNESE THEATER SCENE
For more than half a century, it has been one of the permanent ensembles in Vienna's theater scene: founded in 1965 as the “Orchester Theater an der Wien” in order to do justice to Vienna's growing importance for a musical tradition in the German-speaking world, it was re-established under its current name as the Orchestra of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien following the merger with the Orchestra of the Raimund Theater in 1987. Since then, it has not only consistently proven its quality as one of the most professional ensembles for musical performances in the German-speaking world, but has also expanded its sphere of activity in many ways.
The early days of the Theater an der Wien's house orchestra are associated with legendary names such as Johannes Fehring as conductor as well as Robert Opratko, Hans Salomon, Karl Kowarik and Toni Stricker, who lent a special radiance to musical productions during Rolf Kutschera's time as director - including major Broadway and West End plays such as DER MANN VON LA MANCHA with Josef Meinrad, Blanche Aubry/Dagmar Koller and Fritz Muliar or ANATEVKA with Yossi Yadin and Lya Dulizkaya. Even back then, the orchestra was also in the pit for operetta hits such as DIE LUSTIGE WITWE or DAS LAND DES LÄCHELNS by Franz Lehár, but early musical productions such as HELDEN, HELDEN, DAS GLAS WASSER and DIE GRÄFIN VOM NASCHMARKT also met with a lively response. Stars such as Johannes Heesters, Marika Rökk, Nicolai Gedda, Peter Minich, Irmgard Seefried, Michael Heltau, Harald Serafin, Liselotte Pulver, Lucia Popp, and later Rainhard Fendrich and Alexander Goebel, to name but a few, shone on stage during this period.
WITH THE DIRECTORSHIP OF PETER WECK AT THE THEATRE AN DER VIENNA, A SENSATIONAL SUCCESS TOOK HOLD
From the 1983/84 season onwards, Andrew Lloyd Webber's CATS conquered musical fans at home and abroad for a total of 2080 performances. CATS was therefore also on the repertoire in 1987 during the reorganisation of the orchestra of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, so that the period of transition was characterised by continuity. Subsequently, the orchestra also succeeded in sharpening its profile as an entertainment orchestra. It organised television shows, accompanied artists such as Udo Jürgens on international tours and was called upon to participate in numerous record and CD recordings - an activity for which it soon earned high recognition under conductors such as Rudolf Bibl, Robert Opratko, Herwig Gratzer and Adrian Manz.
Under Weck, the Swiss André Bauer and then Caspar Richter were appointed as new music directors. Collaborations with high-calibre jazz artists were expanded in the 1990s, including Joe Zawinul, Toots Thielemans, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck and Bill Russo. At the same time, regular collaborations with international stars from the field of classical music such as Thomas Hampson, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Johan Botha, Julian Lloyd Webber, Bo Skovhus, Victoria Loukianetz, Alexandru Badea, Renate Pitscheider and Barbara Daniels also took place.
One of the last professional entertainment orchestras in Europe
With the world premiere of the children's opera TULIFANT in October 1990 at the Ronacher in Vienna, the orchestra premiered the last stage work by the internationally renowned Austrian composer Gottfried von Einem to great media acclaim.
After CATS and the no less successful PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1988-1993), a long series of musical premières began in Vienna under the directorships of Rudi Klausnitzer and Kathrin Zechner, the sound of which is of course directly associated with the Orchestra of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien - such as FREUDIANA, ELISABETH, DANCE OF THE VAMPIRE, MOZART!, RUDOLF and REBECCA.
In the Mozart year 2006, DIE WEBERISCHEN, a musical comedy written by Felix Mitterer and the Tiger Lillies about the women in the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was performed. Christian Kolonovits conducted this world premiere, and under his direction in 2007, DIE HABSBURGERISCHEN was another entertaining immersion in Austrian history.
Today, the orchestra of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien is one of the last professional entertainment orchestras in Europe, as many of the entertainment orchestras that used to be taken for granted by radio stations have fallen victim to the austerity programme. The open attitude of its members, many of whom are trained in both classical and jazz, enables it to cover a broad spectrum of stylistic diversity and to prove itself in ever new venues. The era of Music Director Koen Schoots (2010-2017) saw successful premieres such as ICH WAR NOCH NIEMALS IN NEW YORK and SISTER ACT, as well as MAMMA MIA! and MARY POPPINS and the concert performances of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and LOVE NEVER DIES since Christian Struppeck's management.
Key orchestral projects in 2014 included the highly acclaimed joint production of Bert Brecht/Kurt Weill's DIE SIEBEN TODSÜNDEN with Maria Bill and a ‘Red Noses’ benefit gala with Rolando Villazón at Vienna's Volkstheater.
The music education programme ‘Niemand glaubt, dass ich ein Wiener bin’ under the direction of Aleksey Igudesman was also very well received.
The concert A TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA - performed in 2015 at the Jazz Fest Wien at the Vienna State Opera with a large orchestra under the direction of Herbert Pichler and soloists such as Thomas Quasthoff and Angelika Kirchschlager - was celebrated by the audience with standing ovations.
Artistic Director Christian Struppeck continues on the path of internationally successful world premieres
The highly acclaimed world premiere of the in-house production SCHIKANEDER at the beginning of the 2016/17 season was enthusiastically received and received excellent reviews, with the orchestra once again demonstrating its stylistic versatility and conjuring up a sound of the Mozart era.
The 2017/18 season also opened with a world premiere: With Austro-pop and Rainhard Fendrich's greatest hits, I AM FROM AUSTRIA, the musical by Titus Hoffmann and Christian Struppeck, celebrated its world premiere at Vienna's Raimund Theatre on 16 September 2017. Just two weeks later, one of the VBW's most successful in-house productions returned to Vienna for its 20th anniversary: Roman Polanski's cult musical DANCE OF THE VAMPIRE, in which the orchestra once again shook the Ronacher with the bombastic ‘symphonic rock’ sounds of Jim Steinman's music.
The era of music director Koen Schoots came to an end with the ‘Vampires’. A music directorate was set up by the management and artistic directors, which since then has consisted of Herbert Pichler, Carsten Paap, Michael Römer and Peter Biro.
The successful in-house production TANZ DER VAMPIRE was followed by BODYGUARD with spectacular choreography and Grammy-winning songs by Whitney Houston. In 2019, CATS returned to the Ronacher, the play that started the success story of Vereinigte Bühnen Wien in 1983. While the Raimund Theatre underwent a general refurbishment, the orchestra used the time to perform a special project with the Finnish artist Jimi Tenor and a programme of works by Friedrich Gulda and H.C. Artmann together with the actor Karl Markovics under the direction of Herbert Pichler. With one of the most impressive works in musical history, MISS SAIGON, the Raimund Theatre was able to reopen its doors in new splendour in January 2022. In the 2022/23 season, REBECCA, the successful VBW musical penned by Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay, and Disney's THE GLACKNER OF NOTRE DAME were on the programme. In October 2023, the latest VBW in-house production ROCK ME AMADEUS - DAS FALCO MUSICAL celebrated its world premiere at the Ronacher, while the premiere of Cameron Mackintosh's spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA took place in March 2024.