Ulster Orchestra
Based in Belfast, the Ulster Orchestra performs across Northern Ireland and beyond, including in the Republic of Ireland. The only professional symphony orchestra in Northern Ireland, the group has a large recording catalog, comprising more than 40 albums as of the early 2020s.
The Ulster Orchestra was founded in 1966 by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Its immediate predecessor was the semi-professional City of Belfast Symphony Orchestra, which was disbanded at that time. The orchestra's first conductor was Maurice Miles, who served for a single year; he was replaced by Sergiu Comissiona, who conducted the orchestra from 1967 to 1969 and was the first of its many conductors to hail from beyond Northern Ireland and beyond Britain. Comissiona was succeeded by Edgar Cosma, Alun Francis, and Bryden Thomson; the latter oversaw a substantial expansion of the group as the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra disbanded in 1981, and many of its players moved to the Ulster Orchestra. The group now has 63 full-time players, and despite some funding crises, it has remained stable thanks to support from the Arts Council and the city of Belfast. Concerts are held mostly at Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall in Belfast. In 1990, the orchestra released the album Shaun Davey: The Relief of Derry Symphony on the Tara label. The following year, the group began a long association with the Chandos label, issuing Stanford: Irish Rhapsodies, Clarinet Concerto.
The Ulster Orchestra has had many music directors, typically retaining them for periods of just a few years. Thomson's successors included Vernon Handley (1985-1989), who was later named conductor laureate, Yan Pascal Tortelier (1989-1992), En Shao (1992-1995), JoAnn Falletta (2011-2014), the group's first female and first American conductor, and Daniele Rustioni (2019-). The orchestra has a strong commitment to contemporary music and has employed Brian Irvine and Ian Wilson as Associate Composers. The Ulster Orchestra is often heard live on the BBC 3 network and is noted for its educational and outreach programs in the Belfast community. The group's recordings are notable for their variety, extending from crossover releases of classical favorites to thorny contemporary works. The orchestra has made numerous recordings for Chandos, Naxos, Hyperion (where it has been heard on several installments of the label's Classical Piano Concerto and Romantic Piano Concerto series), and Somm, where it was heard on a 2022 recording of Kurt Weill's little-recorded Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 2.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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SCHOENBERG: Verklarte Nacht / Chamber Symphony No. 2
Classical - Released by Naxos on 18 Aug 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n°4...
Ulster Orchestra, Lydia Mordkovitch, Vernon Handley
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Nov 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy & Ravel Orchestral Works
Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra, Anne Queffélec, Christopher King, Rachel Masters, Stephen Roberts
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Oct 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harty: Complete Orchestral Works
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra, Heather Harper, Ralph Holmes, Malcolm Binns
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Apr 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
HARTY: Comedy Overture (A) / Piano Concerto / Fantasy Scenes
Ulster Orchestra, Peter Donohoe, Takuo Yuasa
Classical - Released by Naxos on 21 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 1 - Rhapsodie irlandaise n° 2
Ulster Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on 1 May 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Steibelt: Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 5 & 7 Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 2)
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 31 Dec 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto / Symphony
Hiromi Okada, Ulster Orchestra, Takuo Yuasa
Concertos - Released by Naxos on 18 Nov 2002
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dussek: Piano Concertos Op. 3, 14 & 49 (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 5)
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 31 Aug 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bernstein: The Age of Anxiety (Symphony No. 2) – Bolcom: Piano Concerto
Marc-André Hamelin, Ulster Orchestra, Dmitry Sitkovetsky
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Sep 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
AN IRISH RHAPSODY
Pan Hon Lee, Ulster Orchestra, Vernon Handley, Bryden Thomson
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Feb 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Wand Of Youth Suites & Nursery Suite
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 May 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Tintagel, Paean, Festival Overture, Christmas Eve, Dance of Wild Irravel & Nympholept
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Malcolm Hicks
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto pour deux pianos
Ulster Orchestra, Phillip Dyson, Esa Heikkila, Kevin Sargent
Classical - Released by Naxos on 30 Oct 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
HARTY: Orchestral Works
Ulster Orchestra, Pan Hon Lee, Colin Fleming, Bryden Thomson, Denise Kelly
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Feb 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harty: Violin Concerto in D Minor & Variations on a Dublin Air
Ralph Holmes, Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harty: An Irish Symphony & A Comedy Overture
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Dec 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Françaix: Ballet Music & Piano Concertino
Ulster Orchestra, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Mar 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
McDowall: Shipping Forecast
Cecilia McDowall, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestra Nova Ensemble
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 6 Aug 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Egmont Overture / SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 / MOZART: Symphony No. 40
Ulster Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Mar 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BLISS Checkmate Suite / Clarinet Quintet / Hymn to Apollo / Music for Strings
Quintets - Released by Chandos on 1 Feb 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo