Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
A small orchestra specializing in music of the Baroque and Classical eras, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields became one of the most popular ensembles in the entire field of classical music, making albums that topped classical charts and even made an impact in pop. The group's seamless sound was identified in the minds of many listeners with that of Baroque music itself.
The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (the name has been spelled both with and without the hyphens, and with and without the period after "St") was formed in 1958 by violinist Neville Marriner, who was interested in exploring the then largely new field of Baroque music with a group of other musicians. Performing without a conductor until market forces dictated that Marriner take the post, the group played its first concert on November 13, 1959, at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and took its name from that venue. The orchestra began recording in 1961 on the L'Oiseau-Lyre label, championed by its founder, Louise Hanson-Dyer, and at first, finding more success with recordings than with concert appearances. The Academy moved to the early music-oriented Argo label in 1965. Appearances on the BBC Proms programs brought the group to a wider public, and in 1970 it incorporated, under the direction of Marriner and other founders, as a fully professional ensemble. Soundtrack performances in BBC television films added to the Academy's financial stability. Although he took up the conductor's baton, Marriner preferred to lead the orchestra from the first violinist's chair, and as violinists Iona Brown and Kenneth Sillito took over the group's direction on occasion, they followed the same practice in Baroque works. After Sillito's retirement in 2012, violinist Joshua Bell was named the music director. Pianist Murray Perahia has been the principal guest conductor since 2000; Perahia had for some time led the group in conductorless performances of Mozart and other Classical-period piano concertos.
The Academy's repertory also expanded over time, coming to include the Wagner Siegfried Idyll and even contemporary works. The original Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra grew to include several subgroups, the Chamber Ensemble (formed 1967), which focused on small-group chamber music for strings, and a larger grouping that could include as many as 45 musicians. A Chorus of St. Martin in the Fields, formed in 1975 for a tour performance of Bach's Mass in B minor, BWV 232, grew into an independent organization. The Academy continued to perform at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and added a short Royal Festival Hall Season as its popularity grew.
However, recordings remained at the center of the group's activities, and to date, it has issued more than 500 albums. Its recording schedule often involved more than a dozen albums a year. The orchestra moved to the Philips label in 1971; it has since recorded for Decca, London, ASV, and other labels. One milestone was the orchestra's 1984 recording of the score for the film Amadeus, which topped classical charts, appeared on pop charts, and remains one of the best-selling classical albums of all time. In 2019, the Academy, with young pianist Jan Lisiecki conducting from the keyboard, issued a complete recording of Beethoven's piano concertos on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Gidon Kremer, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1; Scottish Fantasia
Akiko Suwanai, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn, Hummel, Hertel & Stamitz Trumpet Concertos
Håkan Hardenberger, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Partita, 3 Vocalises, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, The Lark Ascending
Emma Johnson, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, The London Festival Orchestra, Ross Pople, Iona Brown
Classique - Paru chez Decca (UMO) le 1 juil. 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martin: Orchestral, Choral & Vocal Works.
Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Osian Ellis, Simon Preston, Sir Philip Ledger
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 20 févr. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concertos
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto Nos 5 & 6, etc
Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 1 janv. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Overtures / 12 Minuets / 12 German Dances, etc.
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Kurt Masur, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boyce: 8 Symphonies
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez CapriccioNR le 6 janv. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Highlights)
Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 5 juin 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Airs sacrés
Barbara Hendricks, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 10 nov. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Octet etc
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies
Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 24 sept. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings; Souvenir de Florence
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Heinrich Schiff, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Cantatas Nos. 159 & 170
(Dame) Janet Baker, John Shirley-Quirk, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ives: Symphonies Nos 1-4; Orchestral Sets Nos.1-2 (2 CDs)
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Symphonies - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Academy of St Martin in the Fields - Handel
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 7 juil. 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos.20, 23 & Concert Rondos
Alfred Brendel, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romance - Romantic Classic 1
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, RTV Symphony Orchestra Moscow, Sir Neville Marriner, Klaus-Peter Hahn, Alexander Mikjailov
Classique - Paru chez haenssler CLASSIC le 20 sept. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Villa-Lobos & Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Concertos; Rodrigo: Sones En La Giralda
Pepe Romero, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo