The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded the US$1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize in a ceremony attended by Sweden’s king and queen on Oct. 8. The ensemble said the money — nearly 800,000 euros — would go toward expanding its archives and making them more open to the public.
The Philharmonic was picked earlier this year, becoming the first orchestra chosen for the prize — endowed by Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005), the late Swedish soprano — since it was launched in 2009. Earlier winners have been Spanish tenor and conductor Placido Domingo and conductor Riccardo Muti.
The ceremony on Wednesday evening last week, which was attended by King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden, included performances of works by Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and Richard Wagner (1813-1883) by the orchestra, under Muti’s direction. A multiple Grammy winner and nominee, the Vienna Philharmonic was chosen as Europe’s finest orchestra by a panel of experts in 2006. Gramophone Magazine listed it third in the world in 2008.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透
The orchestra has tried to right some past wrongs from the Nazi era.
Last year, it stripped six former senior Nazi officials of honors awarded them — a late act of contrition for the Philharmonic’s embrace of Hitler’s rule, including the purging of Jewish members from its ranks.
Under the Nazis, 13 musicians with Jewish roots or relatives were fired by the orchestra and five died in concentration camps. By the end of World War II, about half the Philharmonic’s members had joined the Nazi party.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透
After refusing to accept women to permanent membership for more than 150 years, the orchestra gave in to protests from women’s groups and opened its ranks to them in 1997.
(AP)
維也納愛樂管弦樂團十月八日在瑞典國王與王后出席的典禮上，獲頒有一百萬美元獎金的柏吉特‧尼爾森獎。該樂團表示這筆近八十萬歐元的獎金將用於擴建其資料庫，並開放更多內容給大眾共享。
由已故瑞典女高音尼爾森（1918-2005）所捐贈的尼爾森獎金，從二００九年開始頒發。維也納愛樂管弦樂團今年初被選為該獎項得主，它也是首支榮獲尼爾森獎的樂團。過去得主有西班牙男高音與指揮家普拉西多‧多明哥與指揮家里卡多‧慕提。
上週三晚上頒獎典禮的演出，包括幕提指揮維也納愛樂管弦樂團演奏李斯特（1811-1886）與華格納（1813-1883）的作品。瑞典國王卡爾十六世‧古斯塔夫與王后希爾維亞也是座上賓。榮獲多項葛萊美獎與提名的維也納愛樂管弦樂團二００六年被一群專家小組評定為歐洲最優秀的樂團。《留聲機雜誌》二００八年將該樂團名列世界第三。
樂團已著手將其過去在納粹時代所犯的錯誤糾正過來。
去年，該樂團摘除其曾經頒授予六位納粹領導人之榮譽頭銜—此舉看似樂團遲來的行動，亟欲洗脫其過去支持希特勒政權的污名，其中包括革除其猶太團員的職位。
在納粹統治下，十三位有猶太血統或有猶太親戚的音樂家皆被樂團革職，其中有五位在集中營內離世。直至第二次世界大戰末，該樂團已有大約一半團員加入納粹黨。
在超過一百五十年拒絕接受女性成為其永久團員後，維也納愛樂管弦樂團在不敵女性團體的抗議下讓步，並且從一九九七年起開放接受女性成為該團團員。
（美聯社／翻譯：林亞蒂）
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