Today Vienna Philharmonic celebrate our 178th birthday! Beethoven’s seventh symphony was in the center of the very first concert which the Vienna Philharmonic gave as Vienna’s first professional symphony orchestra on Easter Monday, March 28th, 1842 in the Großer Redoutensaal. With four compositions Beethoven was the most prominently featured composer in the founding concert. Besides the 7th symphony, the orchestra also played the concert aria “Ah Perfido”, the Leonore overture No. 3 as well as the overture “Die Weihe des Hauses”. The conductor was Otto Nicolai.