The BBC Concert Orchestra
Of the five orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Company, the BBC Concert Orchestra is the most oriented toward light music, popular music, and jazz. The orchestra's name is somewhat inaccurate: although it does often perform live concerts, the group's most important tasks are connected to radio broadcasting.
The BBC Concert Orchestra grew out of the BBC Theatre Orchestra, which was formed in 1931 and was later renamed the BBC Opera Orchestra. In 1952, that group was reorganized as the BBC Concert Orchestra. The following year, it became the house orchestra for the BBC program Friday Night is Music Night, which as of the late 2010s, remained on the air as the world's longest-running radio program. The orchestra performed a variety of other light music on BBC programs, accompanied popular singers, sometimes teamed with the BBC Big Band, and at times performed operatic and symphonic works. For two decades, the group gave live concerts at London's Camden Theatre, moving to the Hippodrome in North London in 1972. The orchestra's first conductor was Gilbert Vinter. Subsequent conductors have included Charles Mackerras (1954-1956), Vilem Tausky (1956-1966), Marcus Dods (1966-1970), Ashley Lawrence (1970-1989), Barry Wordsworth (1989-2006), Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart (2010-2017, remaining as the principal guest conductor), and Bramwell Tovey (2018-). Composers associated with the BBC Concert Orchestra have sometimes been associated with popular music spheres; they include Radiohead guitarist and keyboardist Jonny Greenwood, who became the orchestra's composer-in-association in 2004. The orchestra's other responsibilities have included recording jingles for BBC News programs.
The BBC Concert Orchestra has a large catalog of recordings, many of them covering British light music, film music, and symphonic music that has not been recorded elsewhere. Many of their recordings have appeared on the Bainbridge, Excalibur, Dutton Laboratories (which has issued a lengthy series of light music/easy listening recordings), Chandos, and Somm labels. In 2019, the orchestra issued an album on Regent of music by its new composer-in-residence, Dobrinka Tabakova.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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I. The Future Strings Variation (Arr. by Davide Mantovani)
Seckou Keita, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Mark Heron
Classique - Paru chez Claves Records le 21 mars 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chisholm: Symphony No. 2 - Hold: The Unreturning Spring - Fogg: Merok & Sea Sheen
Erik Chisholm, The BBC Concert Orchestra, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Dutton Epoch le 22 oct. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montague Phillips - Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Classique - Paru chez Dutton Epoch le 25 mars 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Cinema 1
Bandes originales de films - Paru chez Plaza Mayor Company, Ltd. le 25 avr. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar : Orchestral Songs
Henk Neven, Barry Collett, Nathalie de Montmollin, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth, Kathryn Rudge
Musique vocale profane - Paru chez SOMM Recordings le 31 août 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto: II. Languid Blues
The BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews, Rebeca Omordia
Musique concertante - Paru chez Resonus Classics le 10 mars 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
York Bowen: Piano Concerto Nos 2 & 3
Classique - Paru chez Dutton le 13 nov. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montague Phillips: Symphony in C Etc.
Classique - Paru chez Dutton Epoch le 27 juin 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elinor Remick Warren - The Legend of King Arthur
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Dutton Epoch le 1 nov. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Arnell - Punch and the Child
Classique - Paru chez Dutton Epoch le 1 juin 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hadley: Salome & San Francisco
Classique - Paru chez Dutton Epoch le 24 juil. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Cinema 2
Bandes originales de films - Paru chez Plaza Mayor Company, Ltd. le 30 mai 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
York Bowen Piano & Violin Concertos
Classique - Paru chez Dutton le 22 mai 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Broadway
Renée Fleming, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Rob Fisher
Comédies musicales - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 7 sept. 2018
5 de Diapason24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
La belle dame
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Rupert Marshall-Luck, Roderick Williams, John Andrews
Classique - Paru chez EM Records le 19 avr. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
ANDERSON, L.: Sleigh Ride and Other Holiday Favourites (BBC Concert Orchestra, L. Slatkin)
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Catherine Moore, Leonard Slatkin, David McCallum, John Blackshaw
Classique - Paru chez Naxos le 1 janv. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Musique Orchestrale (Volume 3)
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Alasdair Malloy, Catherine Moore, Leonard Slatkin
Classique - Paru chez Naxos le 12 juin 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vissi d'Arte - Opera for Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 4 nov. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amore
Joseph Calleja, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Steven Mercurio
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Something's Gotta Give
Simon Keenlyside, Scarlett Strallen, The BBC Concert Orchestra, David Charles Abell
Comédies musicales - Paru chez Chandos le 1 nov. 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nyman: The Diary of Anne Frank - Arr. Harle: If
Jess Gillam, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Jessica Cottis
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 7 sept. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo