Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1904 and therefore the oldest of the city's symphony orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra became world-renowned for recordings that date back to early gramophone records in 1912. Amid decades of diverse classical programming that followed, including performances for radio and TV, the orchestra also became known for its appearances in numerous film scores, including the Star Wars series. The LSO also tours and first visited North America in 1912 (narrowly avoiding passage on the Titanic).
The ensemble's direct antecedent was the Queen's Hall Orchestra, formed in 1895 for conductor Henry Wood's series of Promenade Concerts. The summer series was so successful that a series of weekly Sunday afternoon concerts was established the same year. The orchestra, however, had never become a permanent group; its members could and often did send other musicians to substitute for them at concerts. In 1904, Wood attempted to end this practice, prompting 46 members to leave and form their own orchestra.
The London Symphony Orchestra was organized as a self-governing corporation administered by a board selected by the players. They arranged for the great Hans Richter to conduct the inaugural concert, and continued to engage a variety of conductors, practically introducing the concept of the guest conductor to the London musical scene. Soon, though, the title and post of principal conductor was established for Richter. The LSO's connection with the BBC goes back to 1924 when Ralph Vaughan Williams conducted the orchestra in the premiere broadcast performance of his Pastoral Symphony. It was the unofficial orchestra in residence for the BBC until the formation of the BBC Symphony in 1930 and continued to broadcast concerts and provide background music for many BBC productions. Other conductors most associated with the orchestra's first few decades include Edward Elgar and Thomas Beecham. During World War II, Wood was welcomed for a series of concerts.
The War took its toll on orchestra membership as it had the general populace, and a concurrent drop in private funding led to increased reliance on the state arts council. This eventually led to structural reorganization in the 1950s, resulting in increased professional standards and the abandonment of profit-sharing; players became salaried employees. The revamped orchestra made only its second tour of the United States in 1963 (the first had been in 1912), and in 1964 embarked on its first world tour. In the mid-1960s the city of London broke ground for the Barbican Arts Centre, intended as the LSO's permanent home. The building was an architectural and acoustic success, and since 1982 has provided the orchestra the solid base it lacked during the first 70-plus years of its existence. The venue opened under principal conductor Claudio Abbado, who took over for André Previn in 1979.
In the meantime, the orchestra made its Star Wars debut, performing John Williams' score for the original 1977 film. While the organization had recorded its first film score in 1935 (H.G. Wells' Things to Come) and appeared in such classics as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, and The Sound of Music, Star Wars won three Grammys, an Academy Award, and a BAFTA, among many other accolades, sold over a million copies in the U.S. and over 100,000 in the U.K., and endures as a touchstone in modern film music. The LSO went on to record music for the franchise's entire first two trilogies as well as films like 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1993's Schindler's List, 1997's Titanic, and select installments of the Harry Potter series.
During the tenure of Colin Davis, who was named principal conductor in 1995, the LSO established its own record label, LSO Live. Dvorák's Symphony No. 9, recorded at Barbican Centre in 1999 and released in 2000, bears catalog number 0001. Their 2000 recording of Berlioz's Les Troyens won two Grammys in 2002, and Verdi's Falstaff took home the Best Opera Grammy in 2006. In 2007, Davis took the position of orchestra president, its first since Leonard Bernstein's passing in 1990, and Valery Gergiev became principal conductor.
Also known for crossing over into rock, jazz, and Broadway, among other categories, they followed hit recordings such as Symphonic Rolling Stones and Gershwin Fantasy (with Joshua Bell) with albums like 2017's Someone to Watch Over Me, which had them accompanying archival recordings of Ella Fitzgerald.
© Marcy Donelson, Joseph Stevenson & Corie Stanton Root /TiVo
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Discography
16 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Great Recordings 1
Antal Doráti, London Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Mar 3, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 by Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on Aug 15, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture etc
Deems Taylor, University Of Minnesota Brass Band, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Doráti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi & Wagner: Overtures
London Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Antal Doráti
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Mar 25, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Antal Dorati conducts Copland Symphony No. 3
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Doráti, New York Philharmonic, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Classical - Released by Archipel on Jul 1, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" & Slavonic Dances Nos. 1 & 3
Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Pomerantz, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Classical - Released by DOREMI on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies from Tartini, Cherubini, Respighi & Verdi
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra E Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala
Classical - Released by Ermitage Rc on May 19, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
16 Slavonic Dances; Opus 46 (1878) · Opus 72 (1886)
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Blue Pie Records USA on Jan 1, 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music Of Johann Strauss
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Blue Pie Records USA on Jan 1, 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Master of Classic Music, Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2
Arthur Rubinstein, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Oscardigital on Aug 18, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Academic Festival Overture, Tragic Overture, Haydn Variations, Hungarian Dances
London Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Blue Pie Records USA on Jan 1, 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony NO. 5, OP. 64 - Iberia, T. 105 - La Vida Breve, G. 35
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Altair on Oct 3, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Antal Doráti Conducts Strauss and Bartók
London Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on Jul 22, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ozark Set / Sunday In Brooklyn
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker
Classical - Released by Baroque Records on Aug 10, 1973
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Classical - Released by Archipel on Nov 29, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies 2 & 4 - Tchaikovsky
Dimitri Mitropoulos, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on Jan 1, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo