The Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra has been called the Rolls Royce of orchestras. One of the so-called "Big Five" American orchestras, its many partisans assert that it is, and has been for over a century, the finest orchestra in the world. The Philadelphia Orchestra was founded in 1900. Fritz Scheel was appointed the ensemble's first music director and served until his death in 1907. In its earliest years, the orchestra could not boast the exalted reputation it would develop just two decades later, but it did manage to attract some notable figures, including Richard Strauss, who gue...