Orchestra of the City: 125 Years Wiener Symphoniker

Exhibition

On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the orchestra, Leica Gallery Vienna and the Wiener Symphoniker invite audiences to a special photographic exhibition.
The exhibition traces the orchestra’s history from its founding in 1900 to the present day, offering a visual journey through 125 years of musical excellence, artistic evolution, and cultural significance.

With its rich tradition, openness to new ideas, and unmistakable Viennese sound, the Wiener Symphoniker is the heart of the “City of Music”, Vienna. Founded in 1900 at the dawn of Viennese Modernism, the or chestra has shaped the city’s musical life for more than a century, connecting past, present, and future.

As one of Europe’s most important premiere orchestras, the Wiener Symphoniker gave first performances of works by Anton Bruckner, Arnold Schoenberg, Maurice Ravel, and Franz Schmidt, opening the doors for audiences to new worlds of sound. This spirit of curiosity continues to define the orchestra today: through close collaboration with contemporary composers, it consistently sets new artistic impulses.

The orchestra’s development has been profoundly shaped by its conductors. Figures such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Swarowsky, Herbert von Karajan, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Georges Prêtre have left a lasting mark on its unique sound.

Since 2024, Czech conductor Petr Popelka serves as Chief Conductor. As a conductor, musicologist, and composer, he represents the excellence of a modern orchestra. Carrying a “suitcase full of Vienna”, the orchestra regularly tours Europe and Asia as a musical ambassador of the city. Since 2025, it has celebrated the arrival of spring with the Primavera da Vienna festival at the Politeama Rossetti in Trieste. As the opera orchestra of the MusikTheater an der Wien and Orchestra in Residence of the Bregenzer Festspiele since its founding in 1946, the Wiener Symphoniker continues to inspire audiences. At home, it performs in the city’s most renowned concert
halls: the Musikverein Wien and the Wiener Konzerthaus.

On display are originals from the archive, photographs that have been created in recent years in collaboration with Leica photographer David Payr, as well as intimate insights from inside the renowned ensemble – by Johannes Niesel-Reghenzani. Explore with us the following questions: How does sound manifest itself in the image?
How has the role of the image changed over the centuries? How has the image of the traditional orchestra adapted over 125 years?

• EXHIBITION 19.02.2026 - 07.03.2026