Sigma Alpha Iota

18 Winter 2025 • sai-national.org 18 Winter 2025 • sai-national.org A Wld of Music By Jayne I. Hanlin U nlike New York's Carnegie Hall and Los Angeles' Walt Disney Hall, Leipzig's Gewandhaus has no connection to a surname. Rather, the German word simply means "Garment House." In 1781, inside the Altes (Old) Gewandhaus where cloth merchants met, construction for the concert hall on the upper floor had been completed — ready for the opening performance. At the time there were thirty- two orchestra members. From 1835 until his death in 1847, Felix Mendelssohn was the Gewandhauskapellmeister (Music Director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra). Two other prominent directors were Ferdinand David (1810–1873) and Ferdinand Hiller (1811–1885). (See "Ferdinand and Felix: A Friendship Told Through Letters," PAN PIPES Winter 2013). For over a century, regular concerts continued in this venue. However, by the mid-1880s, with 496 sold subscriptions for 500 available seats, more space was needed to accommodate larger audiences. A second Gewandhaus with two concert halls — a main one for 1,500 and a chamber one for 500 — opened in December 1884. For six decades, famed maestros such as Arthur Nikisch (1855–1922), Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886–1954), and Bruno Walter (1876–1962) appeared on the podium. Unfortunately, during World War II the building sustained severe damage and never reopened. On November 8, 1977, on Karl-Marx-Platz, later renamed Augustusplatz, Kurt Masur laid the foundation stone for the third Gewandhaus. The only concert hall built in former Communist Germany, it was inaugurated in 1981, the bicentennial of the opening of the original hall. Later in 1989, it served as a site to express political dissent against the Communists. Its smaller Mendelssohn Hall seats about 500. Configured like an amphitheater, the Great Hall has an audience capacity of approximately 1,900. The main foyer has glass cases containing models of all three Gewandhauses. On a nearby wall are framed photographs beside huge posters, which list notable performances and premieres. Most of the year, tours of the Gewandhaus are only available in German. Reading the Old Gewandhaus poster was mind-boggling. Performers here included Mozart (1789), nine-year-old Clara Wieck (who later married Robert Schumann) in her piano recital debut (1829), Carl Maria von Weber (1812), Franz Liszt (1840), and Hector Berlioz (1843). Conducting their own new masterpieces were Felix Mendelssohn (Scottish Symphony in 1842 and Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 in 1845); Richard Wagner (Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1862); and Johannes Brahms (Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 in 1879). Johannes Brahms also conducted in Gewandhaus and Gewandhausorchester

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