Emil Oberhoffer,the first music director of the Orchestra (photo: courtesy of The Minnesota Orchestra)

A Century in Sound: the Minnesota Orchestra Turns 100
Special one-hour documentary
November 2003
Listen now
Launch slideshow (requires flash player)

Exactly 100 years ago, 50 instrumentalists led by a German immigrant gave the first concert as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. The ensemble changed its name in the 1960s, but the legacy of a great orchestra on the Plains has run unbroken for a full century now. Using rare archival recordings of the Orchestra and reminiscences of its conductors, MPR's Brian Newhouse looks at the ensemble's colorful past.

EMIL OBERHOFFER ERA (1903-22)
EMIL VERBRUGGHEN ERA (1923-31)
EUGENE ORMANDY ERA (1931-36)
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS ERA (1937-49)
ANTAL DORATI ERA (1949-60)
STANISLAW SKROWACZEWSKI ERA (1960-79)
SIR NEVILLE MARRINER ERA (1979-86)
EDO de Waart ERA (1986-95)
EIJI OUE ERA (1995-2002)
OSMO VANSKA ERA (2003-)

	Emil Oberhoffer

EMIL OBERHOFFER ERA (1903-22)

Launch slideshow

Mary Ann Feldman on Oberhoffer/Carpenter, 1903

Feldman on Emil Oberhoffer II

Feldman on the creation of another Symphony Orchestra.

Feldman on Oberhoffer's demise, last concert

Feldman on MN Orch's 50th anniversary

	Henri Verbrugghen

HENRI VERBRUGGHEN ERA (1923-31)

Launch slideshow

Mary Ann Feldman on Verbrugghen

Feldman on Verbrugghen and touring

Feldman on Verbrugghen and his career end

	Eugene Ormandy

EUGENE ORMANDY ERA (1931-36)

Launch slideshow

Mary Ann Feldman on Ormandy

Feldman on Ormandy leaving

Ormandy I

Ormandy II

Ormandy III

Ormandy IV

	Dimitri Mitropoulos

DIMITRI MITROPOULOS ERA (1937-49)

Launch slideshow

Mary Ann Feldman on Mitropoulos

Feldman on the Orchestra during the Great Depression

Former MSO musicians on Mitropolous and religion

Johnny Angelucci on Mitropolous flamboyance

Mitropolous - Farewell Speech April, 1949

	Antal Dorati

ANTAL DORATI ERA (1949-60)

Launch slideshow

Dorati's first Minnesota speech, 1949

Former MSO musicians Dorati rampage at Northrop

Former MSO musicians on Dorati Pines/Spike Jones

Dorati's daughter, Tonina, on her father's temper

Tonina on family of musicians

Tonina on Bernstein

Joe Roche, former MSO violinist, on Dorati temper

Roche on Dorati movie

Roche on Dorati temper/dedication/the times

	Stanislaw Skrowaczewski

Launch slideshow

Skrowaczewsi on money early on

Skrowaczewsi on new Orchestra Hall

Basil Reeve, Minnesota Orchestra co-principal oboe, on Skrowaczewsi

Cellist Marsha Peck on Northrop Auditorium

Principal cellist Tony Ross on Skrowaczewski and composer Anton Bruckner

Ross on Skrowaczewsi

	Sir Neville Marriner

SIR NEVILLE MARRINER ERA (1979-86)

Launch slideshow

Marriner: why he chose Minneapolis in 1979

Marriner on player's strike in Fall of 1979

Basil Reeve on strike

Marriner on Orchestra attitudes during his tenure

Marriner tries to fire his first player

Basil Reeve on Marriner

Marriner on Klaus Tennstedt, principal guest conductor in the early 1980s

	Edo de Waart

EDO DE WAART ERA (1986-95)

Launch slideshow

de Waart looking back at his tenure

de Waart on Osmo Vänskä

	Eiji Oue

EIJI OUE ERA (1995-2002)

Launch slideshow

Principal trumpet Manny Laureano sums up de Waart/Oue eras

Violist Michael Adams on Oue's inaugural concert

Marcia Peck on Oue

Oue final concert excerpt

Manny Laureano on ovation after Orchestra performance in Hiroshima, Oue's home town

	Osmo Vänskä

OSMO VÄNSKÄ ERA (2003-)

Launch slideshow

Vänskä on work today

Vänskä on challenge ahead

Basil Reeve on Vänskä and mood within the Orchestra now