Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Concertgebouw Orchestra was established several after the Concertgebouw opened in April 1888, and gave its first concert in the Concertgebouw on 3 November 1888.

Willem Kes served as the orchestra's chief conductor from its founding to 1895. In 1895, Willem Mengelberg became chief conductor and remained in this position for fifty years. He is generally regarded as having brought the orchestra to a level of major international significance, with a particular championing of such then-contemporary composers as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.

For approximately its first 75 years, the Concertgebouw Orchestra had a somewhat complicated roster of conductors. In addition to the chief conductor, the orchestra had conductor positions titled "eerste dirigent" ("first conductor") and "tweede dirigent" ("second conductor").

In 1945, because of the controversy over his relationship with the Nazi occupying forces during the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, Mengelberg was removed as chief conductor and subsequently banned from conducting in The Netherlands.

From 1945 to 1959, the orchestra's principal conductor was Eduard van Beinum. One of his specialties was the symphonies of Anton Bruckner. Van Beinum served as sole chief conductor of the orchestra after World War II until his sudden death on the Concertgebouw podium from a fatal heart attack in April 1959.

After Van Beinum's death, from 1961 to 1963, Bernard Haitink and Eugen Jochum shared the post of chief conductor of the orchestra. Haitink became sole chief conductor in 1963, and served in this post until 1988. At some point during Haitink's time, the conductor system was simplified to have an assistant conductor. The recording profile of the orchestra increased most dramatically under Haitink. In the early 1980s, the Dutch government threatened the orchestra with reductions in its government subsidy. Haitink threatened to resign in protest, and the financial situation was eventually settled.

Riccardo Chailly made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1985, and was elected that year as their next chief conductor. Chailly served as chief conductor from 1988 to 2004.

Daniele Gatti first guest-conducted the RCO in 2004. In October 2014, the RCO announced the appointment of Gatti as its seventh chief conductor, effective in 2016.

Another factor in creating the orchestra's distinct character is that the Concertgebouw Orchestra has had only six chief conductors, setting it apart from orchestras of similar age and caliber. Wikipedia