Wiener Festspielorchester

Austrian Festival Orchestra

English: Vienna Festival Orchestra A "pickup" orchestra which existed only for the purposes of ad-hoc recording, between the 1950s and 1960s, and associated with smaller, budget labels. Hans Swarowsky conducted for this and many similar, less than top-notch, orchestras whose identity is not always clear - and he also seems to have been credited for many recordings he did not conduct! It was common to practice "moonlighting", which involved collecting, on short notice, professional musicians from existing orchestras like the Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra), or the Wiener Opernorchester (Vienna State Opera Orchestra), plus a few free-lancers - when a recording was to be made for a budget label. Hence, the quality of playing and recordings varies - sometimes very good, sometimes, not so much. For example, the string sections often sound rather thin (perhaps owing to a shortage of players used, or sub-par recording conditions). Established labels and orchestras had reputations to maintain. > for the Chorus, please use Wiener Festspielchor > for the Chamber Orchestra, please use Kammerorchester Der Wiener Festspiele