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
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Maconchy: Symphony for Double String Orchestra - Serenata Concertante
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Manoug Parikian, Vernon Handley, Barry Wordsworth
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Apr 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: Diabolus in Musica
Salvatore Accardo, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Greatest Video Game Music
Andrew Skeet, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by X5 Music Group on 7 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Sofia Fomina
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 19 Jul 2019
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2, Sonata for 2 Violins, Violin Sonata No. 1
Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Itamar Golan, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2007
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2, Sonata for 2 Violins, Violin Sonata No. 1
Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Itamar Golan, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2007
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Boult Conducts Butterworth, Warlock, Hadley & Howells
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Apr 2007
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Myer Fredman, Raymond Leppard
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 31 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jurowski Conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (Live)
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 3 Sep 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
Yvonne Kenny, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt, Jard van Nes, Neville Creed
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 30 Mar 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos.1 & 2
Julius Katchen, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2002
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Jacob: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Apr 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berkeley: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Norman Del Mar, Nicholas Braithwaite
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Mar 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rosner: Orchestral Music, Vol. 3
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nick palmer
Classical - Released by Toccata Classics on 4 Jan 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: Violin Concertos Nos.1 & 2
Salvatore Accardo, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bel Canto - Italian Opera Arias (Kathleen Battle Edition, Vol. 3)
Kathleen Battle, John Constable, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Campanella
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1993
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain / Albéniz: Rapsodia Española / Turina: Rapsodia sinfonica
Alicia de Larrocha, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1984
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
James MacMilllan: Christmas Oratorio (Live)
Mark Elder, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucy Crowe, Roderick Williams
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 4 Nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms : Symphony No. 3 - Haydn Variations
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop
Classical - Released by Naxos on 25 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jessye Norman sings Strauss: Five Songs & Salome (Live)
Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jessye Norman
Symphonies - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 21 Jan 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Passione
Freddie De Tommaso, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Renato Balsadonna
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 9 Apr 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo