Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
The Slovak Philharmonic (in Slovak, Slovenská filharmónia) is one of the youngest among Europe's great symphonic ensembles, yet it has gained international renown in the 1990s and early 2000s. The orchestra has recorded extensively and has attracted top-notch international collaborators. The Slovak Philharmonic was founded in Bratislava, then part of Czechoslovakia, in 1949. Its first conductor, Vaclav Talich, and first music director, Ludovit Ratjer, were key figures in the orchestra's formation and emergence. In the 1950s, the orchestra began giving concerts in the handsome 1773 Reduta Bratislava concert hall, which has remained its home base. After Rajter stepped down as conductor in 1976, the orchestra had several other highly regarded conductors including Ladislav Slovak (until 1981), Libor Pesek, and, in 1990 and 1991, Aldo Ceccato, its first conductor from outside Czechoslovak lands. After Slovakia split peacefully from the Czech Republic in 1993, the Slovak Philharmonic went from being a strong orchestra in a country with many of them to something of a national flagship, and it increasingly attracted foreign conductors and instrumental collaborators as guests. Among the former group have been Claudio Abbado, Sergiu Celibidache, and Mariss Jansons. The permanent conductorship, however, remained mostly in Slovak and Czech hands; the renowned Jiří Bělohlávek served a term in the 2003-2004 season. That changed with the appointment of France's Emmanuel Villaume in 2009; he remained in the job until 2016, when he was succeeded by Britain's James Judd, a former conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the founder of the Miami Music Project. The orchestra has also been led in recent years by its permanent guest conductors, Leos Svarovsky (until 2018), Rastislav Stur, and Petr Altrichter. The orchestra has a large collection of recordings, most of them on the Naxos, Zebralution, and Denon labels; on Naxos the group released a recording of symphonic poems from Bedřich Smetana's Swedish period.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 / A Midsummer Night's Dream (Excerpts)
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Anthony Bramall
Classical - Released by Naxos on 23 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade. Symphonic Suite, Op. 35
Classical - Released by Digital Masterworks on 12 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Capriccio Espagnole
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Françaix: Concertino for Piano and Orchestra (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 9 Jul 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E Flat major, Op. 49
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pešek
Classical - Released by Red Note OMP on 17 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Godár: Partita for 54 Strings, Harpsichord, Timpani and Tubular Bells (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 6 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic for You: Weber: Aufforderung zum Tanze
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Smetacek
Classical - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 1 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic for You: Bach: Brandenburgische Konzerte 1 - 4
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohdan Warchal
Classical - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 17 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
LE BAL DE PARIS
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Kurt Redel
Classical - Released by Pierre Verany on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos
Mariko Honda, Peter Michalica, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Cassovia, Keith Clark, Richard Zimmer
Classical - Released by Amadis on 17 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Epic of Gilgamesh (The)
Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Zdenek Kosler
Classical - Released by Naxos on 11 Oct 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orchestral Highlights
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica De Málaga, Michael Halasz, Uwe Mund, Ali Rahbari
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Orchestral Classics, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Marco Polo - The Label of Discovery: Sampler 1
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rubinstein: Violin Concerto, Op. 46 / Don Quixote, Op. 87
Takako Nishizaki, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Halasz
Concertos - Released by Marco-Polo on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11
Ida Cernicka, Libor Pešek, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by NEW WORLD CLASSIC (LC 95656) on 8 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Two Tchaikovsky Concertos (feat. Vladimir Spivakov & Zdenek Kosler)
Classical - Released by Digital Masterworks on 4 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Trumpet Legacy
Armando Ghitalla, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, William Perry
Classical - Released by Bridge Records on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music For The Millions Vol. 37 - Joseph Haydn
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Caspar de Salo Quartet
Symphonic Music - Released by DA MUSIC-MEDIAPHON on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 6 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor, Op. 40 (Digitally Remastered)
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Ida Cernecka
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 15 Jul 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo