Oslo 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
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Walton / Sinding
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Eivind Ringstad
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on 11 Aug 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Overtures & Orchestral Music
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jean Sibelius : Œuvres orchestrales
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Oct 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bjørn Kruse: Chronotope (Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra)
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Fredrik Fors
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on 22 Aug 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 21 Oct 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Respighi: Feste romane - Ravel: Suite No. 2 de Daphnis et Chloé - Dukas: L'Apprenti sorcier
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 16 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 30 Mar 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Aug 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra & Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Apokalypsis Joannis
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lars Petter Hagen
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gjermund Larsen
Classical - Released by Aurora Records AS on 30 Aug 2013
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps & Petrushka
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concertos & Pan
Håvard Gimse, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 22 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 1 Dec 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring & Petrushka (1947 Version)
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Svendsen: Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 6 / Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 4
Arve Tellefsen, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Karsten Andersen, Miltiades Caridis
Classical - Released by Universal Music AS on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Nordheim: Tenebrae / Magma
Truls Mørk, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Aurora Records AS on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Violin Concerto; Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1
Janine Jansen, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä
Classical - To be released on 7 Jun 2024 by Decca Music Group Ltd.
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baden / Johnsen / Brustad
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Aurora Records AS on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Egge: Concerto For Cello And Orchestra, Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 4
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Laszlo Varga
Classical - Released by Aurora Records AS on 13 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo