Gewandhaus by Nemorino
The Gewandhaus is a large modern concert hall on Augustusplatz, directly opposite the opera house. It is the home of the famous Gewandhaus Orchestra, which also plays regularly at the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas's Church) and in the opera house itself.The orchestra was founded in 1743, and over the centuries has had such famous Music Directors as Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Franz Konwitschny and Kurt Masur. The current Music Director is Herbert Blomstedt, who was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1927.
The Gewandhaus we can see today is the third building to go by that name. It was built over a nearly five-year period from 1976 to 1981, and was inaugurated on October 8, 1981. The Great Hall seats over 1900 people and contains a huge organ with the inscription Res severa verum gaudium (True pleasure is serious business) -- this is a quotation from the Roman philosopher and dramatist Lucius Annaeus Seneca (who lived from about 4 BC to 65 AD), and has been the motto of the Gewandhaus since 1781.
