Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is generally ranked among the finest Canadian orchestras. It has a substantial recording catalog, much of it on internationally prominent labels outside Canada.
In 1906, conductor Frank Welsman established an ensemble called the Toronto Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, renamed the Toronto Symphony Orchestra two years later. The group presented concerts in Toronto's Massey Music Hall and soon began attracting the likes of composer/performers Rachmaninov and Elgar, the latter appearing in 1911 to lead the orchestra in his oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. World War I dented the orchestra's membership, and it disbanded after the 1918 armistice. In 1922, a new Toronto Symphony Orchestra was formed by local musicians and conductor Luigi von Kunits. Named the New Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble gave its first concert in Massey Hall in April of 1923. In 1927, the orchestra assumed the Toronto Symphony Orchestra name. Two years later, it began weekly concert broadcasts on the national Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network; those continue today on the Symphony Hall program, along with performances by other orchestras. Ernest MacMillan succeeded von Kunits upon the latter's death in 1931. A native Canadian, he remained conductor until 1956 and is still the group's longest-serving conductor. MacMillan led the orchestra's first recordings, one of which, devoted to Holst's The Planets, appeared on the RCA label.
Walter Süsskind succeeded MacMillan in 1956. Süsskind was ahead of the curve in programming avant-garde composers such as Luciano Berio. Conductor Seiji Ozawa, then 30, was appointed music director in 1965. Tours abroad -- to England and France (1966) and Japan (1969) -- brought the orchestra exposure and acclaim and did the same for the fast-rising Ozawa. Karel Ancerl was appointed music director in 1969. He led hugely successful Beethoven and Brahms festivals in 1970 and 1971, respectively. Ancerl died in 1973, and various conductors held the podium until Andrew Davis was appointed music director in 1975. Davis led the orchestra on multiple tours and several critically acclaimed recordings, including one for Columbia Records of Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen Suite and Taras Bulba. Since 1982, the Toronto Symphony has presented its concerts in Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall.
The orchestra's recordings have often appeared on major international labels, including Angel, Sony Classical, and, often in the 2010s, Chandos. When Davis stepped down in 1988, Gunther Herbig succeeded him, serving for five years. Jukka-Pekka Saraste was appointed music director in 1994 and left at the end of the 2001-2002 season. He and the orchestra recorded for the Finlandia label, issuing an album with excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Ballet and Suite from The Love for Three Oranges. Peter Oundjian served as the orchestra's music director from 2004 to 2018, steering the group through financial problems. He was succeeded in 2020 by conductor Gustavo Gimeno; despite a pandemic-time hiatus in 2020 and 2021, Gimeno's contract was extended until 2030, and he led the orchestra in a 2024 Harmonia Mundi recording of Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphonie.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphony
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno, Marc-André Hamelin, Nathalie Forget
Symphonies - Paru chez harmonia mundi le 2 févr. 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: "Serenade to Music"
Peter Oundjian, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Louis Lortie, Sarah Jeffrey, Teng Li, Elmer Iseler Singers
Musique chorale (pour chœur) - Paru chez Chandos le 1 juin 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique & Fantaisie sur la Tempête de Shakespeare
Sir Andrew Davis, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
Symphonies - Paru chez Chandos le 1 juil. 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony Nos. 4 & 5
Classique - Paru chez Toronto Symphony Orchestra le 13 déc. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky : Pictures at an Exhibition
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classique - Paru chez Fazer Records - Finlandia le 16 sept. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel : Messiah Highlights
Sir Andrew Davis, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics (Parlophone) le 1 janv. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Portraits - Elgar: Enigma Variations & Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Classique - Paru chez Toronto Symphony Orchestra le 25 janv. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Classique - Paru chez Toronto Symphony Orchestra le 15 nov. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SYMPHONIC SPECTACULARS (Richard Wagner - Jean Sibelius - Ernest Macmillan)
Classique - Paru chez CBC le 1 janv. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haendel: Le Messie (Mono Version)
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Macmillan, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Glenn Gould Plays Ludwig van Beethoven, Vol. 2 (Live)
Glenn Gould, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, CBC Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Macmillan, Heinz Unger
Classique - Paru chez IDIS le 5 mai 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
Classique - Paru chez Toronto Symphony Orchestra le 25 juin 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 / MARTINU: Symphony No. 5 (Ludwig van Beethoven - Bohuslav Martinu)
Classique - Paru chez CBC le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Art of Johnny Cowell: Virtuoso Trumpet Gems
Johnny Cowell, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez DOREMI le 1 janv. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky : Pictures at an Exhibition
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics International le 16 sept. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ridout, G.: Orchestral Works
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Joanne Kolomyjec, Steven Dann, Victor Feldbrill
Classique - Paru chez Centrediscs le 1 avr. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky : Pictures at an Exhibition
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classique - Paru chez Fazer Records - Finlandia le 16 sept. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky : Pictures at an Exhibition
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classique - Paru chez Fazer Records - Finlandia le 16 sept. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Russian Collection
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classique - Paru chez Fazer Records - Finlandia le 1 oct. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto for Two Pianos
Victor Bouchard, Renée Morisset, Walter Susskind, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Heristal Entertainment le 6 févr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 1
Seiji Ozawa, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Heristal Entertainment le 11 févr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo