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
-
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto - Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko, Augustin Hadelich
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Respighi: Pini di Roma, Fontane di Roma, Feste Romane, Trittico botticciellano, Gli Uccelli & Antiche danze e arie
Hugh Wolff, Carlo Rizzi, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 8
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Mar 2011
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Faust Symphony; Dante Symphony; Les Préludes; Prometheus
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Chicago Symphony Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Jesús López-Cobos
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold: Beckus the Dandipratt, Dances & Sinfonietta No. 1
London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite, Sir Malcolm Arnold
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Mar 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms : Symphony No. 4 - Hungarian Dances Nos. 2, 4-9
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 & Moments Musicaux, Op. 16
Dejan Lazić, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Petrenko
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 1 Sep 2008
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Solti - Bartók
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holst: The Planets
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The Violin Concertos; Sinfonia concertante
Anne-Sophie Mutter, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold: 4 Scottish Dances & Symphony No. 3 (Transferred from the Original Everest Records Master Tapes)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Arnold
Classical - Released by Everest on 6 Oct 2017
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Othello Overture - Symphony Nos. 6 & 7 (Live)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Mar 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dedications (Works for Clarinet & Orchestra)
Roeland Hendrikx, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Concertos - Released by Evil Penguin Classic on 4 Oct 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen: Des Canyons aux étoiles
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach, Tzimon Barto, Andrew Barclay, Erika Öhman, John Ryan
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Mar 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on 6 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms : Symphony No. 2 - Hungarian Dances
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop
Classical - Released by Naxos on 11 Oct 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 May 2006
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
French Opera Arias
Samuel Ramey, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Julius Rudel
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jul 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holst: The Planets
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 26 Oct 2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2/Danse Macabre
Alfred Brendel, Bernard Haitink, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1972
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos 1-6, Manfred Symphony, Overtures & Rococo Variations
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 24 Mar 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo