The Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra (, OPMC) is an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

based in the

Principality of Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a semi-enclave borde ...

. The orchestra gives concerts primarily in the Auditorium Rainier III, but also performs at the Salle des Princes in the

Grimaldi Forum The Grimaldi Forum Monaco, inaugurated in 2000 and named after the historical reigning family of Monaco, the House of Grimaldi, is an international event venue located in the Larvotto ward of Monaco. It hosts approximately 120 events and sees ...

History

The orchestra was founded in 1856 and gave its first concert on 14 December 1856, with an ensemble of 15 musicians, at the "Maison de jeux" ( the future casino), under the direction of Alexandre Hermann. By 1874, the orchestra had increased in size to 70 musicians, in particular during the leadership of Eusèbe Lucas. In 1953,

Prince Rainier III Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to Funeral of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 year ...

had ordered the renaming of the ensemble to ''Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo''. The orchestra acquired its current name in 1980, again through Rainier III. Past principal conductors of the orchestra have included

Paul Paray Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray (French: ɔl paʁɛ 24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. After winning France's top musical award, the Prix de Rome, he fought in the First World War and was a prisone ...

Louis Frémaux Louis Joseph Félix Frémaux (13 August 1921 – 20 March 2017) was a French conductor. Life and career Frémaux was born in Aire-sur-la-Lys, France and came from an artistic background; his father was a painter, and his wife was a music teac ...

Igor Markevitch Igor Borisovich Markevitch (, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', , ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian composer and conductor who studied and worked in Paris and became a naturalized Italian and French citi ...

Lovro von Matačić Lovro von Matačić (14 February 1899 – 4 January 1985) was a Croatian conductor and composer. Early life Lovro von Matačić was born in Sušak, Rijeka, Sušak to a family that was granted a noble title in the early 17th century. Growing up, ...

Lawrence Foster Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. Early life Foster was born in Los Angeles, California, to Romanian parents. His father died when Foster was three years old. He was later adopted by his step ...

Gianluigi Gelmetti Gianluigi Gelmetti OMRI, (11 September 1945 – 11 August 2021) was an Italian-Monégasque conductor and composer. Early life Gianluigi Gelmetti was born on 11 September 1945 in Rome, Italy. When 16 years old, Sergiu Celibidache let him conduct ...

James DePreist James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at ...

Marek Janowski Marek Janowski (born 18 February 1939 in Warsaw) is a Polish-born German conductor. Biography Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the start of World War II to be with her parents. His father disappear ...

, and

Yakov Kreizberg Yakov Kreizberg (; born Yakov Mayevich Bychkov, 24 October 1959 – 15 March 2011) was a Russian-born American conductor. Early years In the Soviet Union Yakov Bychkov was born in Leningrad into a family of Jewish ancestry. His father, May ...

. Kreizberg had originally been signed to a contract of five years, but his tenure was truncated by his death in March 2011. In March 2012, the OPMC and its president,

Princess Caroline of Monaco Princess Caroline of Monaco (born 23 January 1957) is Princess of Hanover by marriage to Prince Ernst August. As the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and Grace Kelly, she is the elder sister of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and ...

, announced the return of Gelmetti to the orchestra as ''chef référent'' to provide interim artistic leadership for the orchestra. In January 2013, the OPMC formalised the full re-appointment of Gelmetti as its artistic director and music director. Gelmetti concluded his second OPMC tenure after the 2015–2016 season and subsequently took the title of honorary conductor.

Kazuki Yamada Kazuki Yamada (山田和樹; born 26 January 1979) is a Japanese conductor. Biography Yamada was born in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture. He studied music, with a focus on percussion, at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where his conducting teach ...

first guest-conducted the OPMC in 2011. In the fall of 2013, he became the OPMC's principal guest conductor. In April 2015, the OPMC announced the appointment of Yamada as its next principal conductor and artistic director, effective September 2016, with an initial contract of three years. In September 2020, the OPMC announced a further contract extension for Yamada through the 2023–2024 season. In June 2023, the OPMC announced the most recent extension of Yamada's contract as its music director, through August 2026. In May 2025, the OPMC announced that Yamada is to conclude his tenure as its music director at the close of his current contract, in August 2026.

Principal Conductors

* Alexandre Hermann * Carlo Allegri (1860–1861) * Eusèbe Lucas (1861–1871) * Arthur Steck (1885–1894) *

Léon Jehin Léon Jehin (17 July 1853 – 14 February 1928) was a conducting, conductor and composer, especially associated with the opera house in Monte Carlo.Favre G. ''Histoire Musicale de la Principauté de Monaco du XVIe au XXe siècle.'' Éditions d ...

(1894–1928) *

(1928–1933) *

Henri Tomasi Henri Frédien Tomasi (; 17 August 1901 – 13 January 1971) was a French classical composer and conductor. He was noted for compositions such as ''In Praise of Folly'', ''Nuclear Era'' and ''The Silence of the Sea''. Early years Henri Tomasi ...

(1946–1947) *

(1956–1965) *

Claudio Scimone Claudio Scimone (23 December 1934 – 6 September 2018) was an Italian conductor. He was born in Padua, Italy and studied conducting with Dimitri Mitropoulos and Franco Ferrara. He established an international reputation as a conductor, as wel ...

(1965–1967) *

(1967–1972) *

(1972–1979) *

(1980–1990) *

(1990–1991) *

(1994–1998) *

(2000–2006) *

(2009–2011) *

(2013–2016) *

(2016–present)

Selected discography

* ''Fantasies, Rhapsodies and Daydreams''. Works by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

Pablo de Sarasate Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish violinist, composer and Conducting, conductor of the Romantic music, Romantic period. His best known work ...

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

Arabella Steinbacher Arabella Miho Steinbacher (born 14 November 1981) is a German classical violinist. Biography Steinbacher was born in Munich to a Japanese mother and a German father. When she was three, her mother read that a German violin teacher had recentl ...

, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. PENTATONE PTC 5186536 (2016).

References

External links

Official orchestra homepage, French-language version

HarrisonParrott agency press release on the death of Yakov Kreizberg, 20 March 2011
{{Authority control 1856 establishments in Monaco Musical groups established in 1856 Monegasque orchestras