This singular event, accompanied with much media interest and attended by several hundred people, including many orchestra members and their families, was on the one hand the result of a long-standing and successful partnership, and on the other hand the realization of an idea conceived and pursued persistently by one initiator since its inception in 2002.
At that time, the orchestra had embarked on a trip to Orange County, California for three concerts with Bernhard Haitink before continuing on to New York for the traditional three concerts of the series Vienna Philharmonic Week in New York. The flight routes Vienna - Los Angeles - New York - Vienna were flown by a chartered aircraft from Austrian Airlines, the captain of which, Klaus Granegger, turned out to be an ardent music lover and Philharmonic enthusiast!
With three such long range flights following in short succession it is possible to get to know the flight personnel somewhat better. The crew visited us in Carnegie Hall and was also invited to the 2003 Philharmonic Ball. There was a birthday cake on board for the 59th birthday of concertmaster Werner Hink and a violin serenade for the captain in the cockpit. The outcome of all this camaraderie was the vision of the captain to have an airplane named after the Vienna Philharmonic. Klaus Granegger pursued this idea with great enthusiasm and perseverance in the ensuing three and a half years, convincing the board of Austrian Airlines to name an airplane after our orchestra, and decorate the exterior of the jet correspondingly.
There is an additional long-standing partnership involved in the realization of this idea - that of the Vienna Philharmonic with the Austrian Mint. This partnership goes back to 1988, when the yet unveiled plan to produce the nation's first gold ingot coin (a coin with the highest possible degree of purity - 999.9% gold) included a discreet search for suitable motifs for the design and naming of the coin. Thomas Pesendorfer, at the time engraver and now head of the engraving division of the Austrian Mint, considered the Vienna Philharmonic as a possible choice, and after overcoming several hurdles it was once again the tenacity of one individual which led to the realization of the idea: Paul Berger, the former director of the Austrian Mint, convinced the executives of the Austrian National Bank that the name "Wiener Philharmoniker" was not too long for the planned project, that a convincing design was possible and that the Vienna Philharmonic, on the basis of its international activity and renown, was an ideal patron saint for the prestigious project.
The aftermath was a singular success story. Thomas Pesendorfer went to work with exemplary meticulousness and after close study of the orchestra's particular set of instruments, designed a coin with timeless appeal, the front side of which depicts the world famous organ in the Musikverein. The "Philharmoniker", as it became immediately known, was unveiled at a gala concert in the presence of 20 national central bank dignitaries from 12 different countries and other honorary guests on October 8, 1989. The coin had already sold a million copies by July 1990, and to date it has been issued in four different editions (one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce and one-tenth ounce).
It has become the market leader and sold more than 8.7 million copies worldwide, which corresponds to 180 tons of gold, or the weight of 35 large (or 40 - 45 smaller) elephants. In accordance with current laws, the Vienna Philharmonic does not share in the revenue generated, but the coin nevertheless represents the most spectacular advertisement that an orchestra has ever had. As a consequence, Paul Berger und Dr. Bruno Tichy, the co-directors of the Austrian Mint AG who were primarily responsible for the choice of the orchestra as motive for the coin, were awarded the Franz Schalk Medal by vote of the full orchestra in January 1990.
The Austrian Mint, under General Director Dietmar Spranz, continued the close partnership with the orchestra and expressed its appreciation with the financing of the optical design of the Airbus A340-300 "Wiener Philharmoniker", which represented not only an aesthetical, but also technical challenge. The design material consists of special foils, which must not only withstand variations in temperature of up to 100 degrees centigrade, but also enormous changes in pressure as well as treatment with cleaning and de-icing fluids. The complete design is made up of 230 individual parts with a total area of 600 square meters and weighs 70 kilograms, and was applied over 520 man hours at a cost of € 300,000.-. The instruments pictured on the aircraft's exterior are the violin of Antonio Stradivari ("ex Halphen"), which is on loan to Professor Eckhard Seifert from the Angelika Prokopp Private Foundation, and a Viennese F-Horn owned by Wolfgang Vladar.
If one takes only a superficial look into the origin of meaningful events, one could say that all of this was a coincidence. In that case, it was a couple of lucky coincidences which led to the production of both the gold coin and the Airbus named "Wiener Philharmoniker". However, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing once said that "coincidence" constitutes blasphemy, and there are superordinate categories which are intrinsic to all major events. With this perspective we recognize two startling and basic analogies between the Austrian Airlines Group, the Austrian Mint, and the Vienna Philharmonic.
Flight symbolizes travel, moving forward and more than that represents the realization of an ancient dream of mankind: "Above the clouds, freedom is boundless". With the coin, the symbol of money, are not only associated negative concepts such as selfishness, avarice, greed and envy, but also an illusion of independence, and with it of freedom. Music is on the one hand bound to strict laws, yet considering its non-material nature of creativity has, of all art forms the most leeway, and as a result, the most freedom.
There is another similarity. The goal of transportation is to bring people together; the concept of the coin is inseparable from that of commerce, and commerce means bringing people together.
The power of music to bring people together was expressed most aptly by Joseph Haydn as he prepared to travel to London for the first time at the age of 58. At a time when the journey was certainly a tiring and risky undertaking for someone considered to be an older man (and who did not have the option of an Austrian Airlines Airbus A340-300 "Wiener Philharmoniker"!), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was familiar with the difficulties of traveling from his earliest childhood, expressed his reservations. "You don't even speak the language", said the greatest composer of all time to his father-figure friend. Haydn's answer was certainly one of the most succinct statements describing music: "The whole world understands my language."
The invited guests in Hangar 2, among them Paul Berger and Captain Klaus Granegger, were witnesses to a unique manifestation of the superordinate categories of transport, commerce and music, at the presentation of the Airbus A340-300 "Wiener Philharmoniker". Vienna's Archbishop Cardinal Dr. Christoph Schönborn personally consecrated the aircraft, and speeches were given by CEO Vagn Sørensen, General Director Dietmar Spranz, Lower Austrian Member of Parlament Dr. Petra Bohuslav, Cabinet Minister Elisabeth Gehrer and Chairman Dr. Clemens Hellsberg. There was a musical presentation as well, with Hans Peter Schuh, Gotthard Eder, Stefan Haimel (trumpet, Vienna State Opera Orchestra), Reinhold Ambros, Lars Michael Stransky, Dietmar Küblböck, Ian Bousfield, Markus Pichler (trombone, Stage Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera), Karl Jeitler, Paul Halwax and Anton Mittermayr playing the "Festmusik" by Karl Pilss and the "Vienna Philharmonic Ball Fanfare", composed in 1924 by Richard Strauss.
The unveiling ceremony, which evinced an intimate atmosphere despite the huge dimensions of the hangar, was coordinated to fit the demands of the modern aviation business. On the afternoon of January 10, "our" aircraft arrived from Tokyo, and was brought to the hangar and cleaned for the presentation. At 9 PM, immediately after the ceremony, preparations began for the plane's next flight, and it took off for Bangkok at midnight.
For at least one year the long range jet with the new design can be observed, flying mostly to destinations in the Far East. On March 1, 2006 however it will be landing at John F. Kennedy Airport, bringing the orchestra to the 18th annual "Vienna Philharmonic Week in New York". It goes without saying that Captain Klaus Granegger will be at the helm of the "Wiener Philharmoniker".
By www.wienerphilharmoniker.at
Posted December 20th, 2006 by ruzik_tuzik
