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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, APM's Brian Newhouse looks at the ensemble's colorful past.
One hundred years of audio memories
compiled by Brian Newhouse, American Public Media, November 2003
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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 ERA (1903-22)
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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 ERA (1923-31)
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Mary Ann Feldman on Verbrugghen
Feldman on Verbrugghen and touring
Feldman on Verbrugghen and his career end
EUGENE ORMANDY ERA (1931-36)
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Mary Ann Feldman on Ormandy
Feldman on Ormandy leaving
Ormandy I
Ormandy II
Ormandy III
Ormandy IV
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS ERA (1937-49)
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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 ERA (1949-60)
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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 ERA (1960-79)
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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 ERA (1979-86)
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Marriner: why he chose Minneapolis in 1979
Marriner on player's strike in Fall of 1979
Basil Reeve on strike
Marsha Peck on Strike/Marriner
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 ERA (1986-95)
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de Waart looking back at his tenure
de Waart on Osmo Vänskä
EIJI OUE ERA (1995-2002)
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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 ERA (2003-)
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Vänskä on work today
Vänskä on challenge ahead
Basil Reeve on Vänskä and mood within the Orchestra now
