London Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has held a prominent place in British music-making for more than seven decades. With a wide reach across Britain, in addition to its regular concerts in London's Cadogan Hall, including concerts in places where access to orchestral music is limited, the RPO can lay claim to the title of Britain's national orchestra. The RPO incorporates the pops-oriented Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the avant-garde Sharp Edge group, and RPO Resound, a community and educational outreach program.
The RPO's broad contemporary appeal, which has included appearances with popular music stars and on film, television, and video game soundtracks, would have been lauded by its founder and first conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, who set up the RPO in 1946 and helped lead a vital revival in the U.K.'s orchestral life after World War II. The new orchestra prospered, beginning a long summer residency at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1948 and touring the U.S. in 1950, becoming the first English orchestra to do so since 1912. Rudolf Kempe became principal conductor upon Beecham's death in 1961. The orchestra hit a rough patch in the early '60s under the leadership of Beecham's widow; Kempe departed (and then returned), and the orchestra temporarily lost the right to use the "royal" designation. That was restored by Queen Elizabeth II in 1966, and several strong conductors, Antal Doráti (1975-1978), André Previn (1985-1992), and Vladimir Ashkenazy (music director, 1987-1994), built the orchestra artistically. Later conductors have included Daniele Gatti, Yuri Temirkanov, Charles Dutoit, and Vasily Petrenko, who began his tenure as music director in 2021.
The RPO is especially notable for the depth and variety of its recording program, which in the first few years of its existence had already topped 100 items; by the early 2020s decade, the orchestra had issued many hundreds of recordings, stretching from pop (disco enthusiasts will remember it as the orchestra featured on the Hooked on Classics recordings of the 1980s) to new avant-garde music. Among these was a 125-album contract with the Tring label. The orchestra's RPO Records, formed in 1986, is thought to have been the first recording label owned by a symphony orchestra; such an arrangement is now commonplace. The following year, the RPO launched the light music (or pops in the U.S.) companion group, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
In 1993, the RPO inaugurated an educational and community outreach program titled RPO Resound. This program provides musical experiences outside of traditional concert settings, such as schools, prisons, and hospitals. Among the key projects for this program is the stroke rehabilitation project STROKESTRA. The RPO is the resident music ensemble of Cadogan Hall in Chelsea, becoming the first London orchestra to have a permanent home, giving its first concert there in 2004. In 2019, the RPO released Animal Requiem by rocker Pete Townshend's collaborator and marital partner, Rachel Fuller. That year, the RPO was named the associate orchestra of the Royal Albert Hall. Among the orchestra's 2022 albums are a recording of two Sibelius Symphonies and Air, featuring the music of Oliver Davis. The next year, they teamed with Joe Hisaishi for A Symphonic Celebration, which reimagined songs from beloved Studio Ghibli animated films.
© James Manheim & Keith Finke /TiVo
-
Holst: The Planets
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Neville Creed
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 26 Oct 2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Offenbach: La Princesse de Trébizonde
Paul Daniel, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Opera - Released by Opera Rara on 22 Sep 2023
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar
Nicola Benedetti, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 15 May 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven - Wagner - Verdi
Lise Davidsen, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 26 Mar 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal Suite (Constr. A. Gourlay)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Gourlay
Classical - Released by Orchid Classics on 4 Nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Aranjuez (Joaquin Rodrigo, Manuel de Falla)
Miloš Karadaglić, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Classical - Released by Mercury Classics on 17 Feb 2014
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A-Flat Major, Op. 55 & Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 63
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Apr 2007
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
British Symphonies
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 9 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spatial Audio - The 3D Classical Collection
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ben Gernon
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 9 Jul 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, W.A.: Violin Concertos No.1 - 5; Sinfonia Concertante
Anne-Sophie Mutter, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2005
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music
David Parry, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by X5 Music Group on 1 Dec 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage (Live)
Edward Gardner, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Opera Chorus
Opera - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 23 Sep 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Moeran: Sinfonietta, Symphony in G Minor & Overture for a Masque
London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Feb 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jurowski conducts Stravinsky, Vol. 2 (Live)
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 28 Apr 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Anna Clyne: DANCE - Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto
Inbal Segev, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop
Concertos - Released by AVIE Records on 5 Jun 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Infinite Bach
Christian Svarfvar, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Johan Ullen
Concertos - Released by RUBICON on 19 Nov 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Greatest Video Game Music 2
Classical - Released by X5 Music Group on 6 Nov 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 – Medtner: Piano Concerto No. 2
Marc-André Hamelin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 31 Mar 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Symphonic Poems
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boult Conducts Bax
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Nov 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boult Conducts Coates
New Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo