Utah Symphony Orchestra
The Utah Symphony is one of the major orchestral ensembles of the American West, having established a high standard of performance and a distinctive sound under longtime conductor Maurice Abravanel. The group has had a distinguished recording career, issuing almost 120 albums under Abravanel on the Vanguard and Vox labels.
After the failure of several other attempts to establish a symphony orchestra in Salt Lake City, the Utah State Sinfonietta, founded as a U.S. Works Progress Administration project in 1935, played more than a thousand concerts in the late 1930s, inspiring local business leaders to form a Utah State Symphony Orchestra in 1940 when federal funding was discontinued. The group's first music director was Hans Heniot. In 1946, its name was changed to the Utah Symphony, and the following year, conductor Maurice Abravanel, a student of Bruno Walter, was hired under a one-year contract. He turned down a lucrative offer from Radio City Music Hall in New York and persisted with the orchestra through various funding crises, at times working without pay because he hoped to build a distinctive ensemble of his own. His mission was successful: Utah Symphony albums became linchpins of American record collections in the LP era, and Abravanel-led classics such as the orchestra's recording of the Berlioz's Requiem, Op. 5, have been reissued in digital media. The orchestra recorded complete cycles of the symphonies of Mahler (it was the first orchestra anywhere to do so) and Tchaikovsky. During Abravanel's tenure the orchestra performed in Salt Lake City's Mormon Tabernacle. A new Symphony Hall, renamed Abravanel Hall in 1993, was opened in 1980 and has been noted for its fine acoustics. Abravanel retired in 1979 and was succeeded by Varujan Kojian (1980-1983), Joseph Silverstein (1983-1998), Keith Lockhart (1998-2009), and Thierry Fischer. The orchestra often performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Opera, merging organizationally with the latter group in 2002. Its pace of recordings slowed somewhat, but critically acclaimed Utah Symphony releases have continued to appear. Fischer has championed contemporary music and issued Dawn to Dusk, featuring works by Augusta Read Thomas (whose EOS: Goddess of the Dawn was commissioned by the orchestra), Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman, in 2016. The orchestra's recording of Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ("Organ") appeared in 2019.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand" (Live)
Classical - Released by Reference Recordings on Nov 10, 2017
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Edgard Varèse: Amériques, Offrandes, Intégrales, Arcana, Ecuatorial, Nocturnal
Symphonies - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78 & Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60
Classical - Released by Reference Recordings on Oct 25, 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan" (Live)
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Reference Recordings on Sep 11, 2015
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 & Romeo & Juliet (2023 Remastered Version)
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Vox on Jan 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Overtures & Complete Symphonies
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony, Op. 58, TH 28 & Marche slave, Op. 31, TH 45 (Remastered 2023)
Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony
Classical - Released by Vox on Jan 1, 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dawn to Dust
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Colin Currie, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Reference Recordings on Apr 8, 2016
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Americana: 20th Century Works for Orchestra
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel, Lukas Foss
Classical - Released by Allegretto on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg, E.: Symphonic Dances / From Holberg's Time / 2 Elegiac Melodies / Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2 / Norwegian Dances
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dante Symphony / Tragic Overture
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Varujan Kojian
Classical - Released by Citadel - Mafy on Jun 2, 1994
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 29, TH 26 "Polish" & Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32, TH 46 (Remastered 2023)
Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony
Classical - Released by Vox on Jan 1, 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Masterpieces - Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Op. 49
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Menuetto Classics on May 11, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Authur Honegger: Judith & Darius Milhaud: La Creation Du Monde
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Vanguard Classics on Jan 1, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: The Complete Symphonies
Classical - Released by X5 Music Group on Apr 28, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gates: Promised Valley
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Utah Chorale
Classical - Released by Citadel - Mafy on Oct 7, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Yardumian: Symphony No. 2 "Psalms" & Armenian Suite
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Lili Chookasian, Varujan Kojian
Classical - Released by Phoenix USA on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Duffy: Heritage Fanfare and Chorale / Heritage Suite / Symphony No. 1 / Heritage Symphonic Dances
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Richard Williams, Joseph Silverstein
Classical - Released by Albany on Oct 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American 20th Century Composers, Vol. 3
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - To be released on May 17, 2024 by Vox
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo