Ambrosian Singers
The Ambrosian Singers are one of the best-known London choral groups, particularly esteemed for their wide variety of recorded repertory. The group's founding was connected to the beginnings of the post-World War II early music movement in England. One of its co-founders was Denis Stevens (b. 1922), a British musicologist and viola player who joined the BBC Music Department in 1949 and developed programs of Renaissance and early Baroque music. The other was John McCarthy (b. 1919), a professional tenor soloist.
They organized the Ambrosian Singers as a small, professional chorus in 1951. The group's aim was to give authentic, accurate performances of the complex polyphonic choral music of the medieval and Renaissance eras. Its first professional engagement involved the musical illustrations for the BBC Series The History of Western Music, which was primarily Stevens' production. In so doing the group sampled a wide repertory in addition to its primary area of interest.
Stevens left the BBC and went to Cornell University in the U.S. in 1955, ending his formal ties with the group. In 1956, a group of six solo singers from the choir founded the Ambrosian Consort. Since then, the organization of the Ambrosian Singers has evolved into a talent pool of some 700 professional singers available for work in concerts, operas, recording, and films and television. Groups drawn from the 700 perform under the original name, The Ambrosian Opera Chorus, the John McCarthy Singers, and others. While John McCarthy was choral director for the London Symphony Orchestra (1961-1966), the group called the "London Symphony Orchestra Chorus" was, in fact, the Ambrosian Singers.
The organization is considered ideal for specific recording projects, for it can provide a choir of experienced studio singers of the needed size and type of experience for anything from Baroque operas to film scores. It participated in the great RCA Classic Film Scores series. Aside from purely classical work, it has participated in numerous Christmas albums and appeared on albums with such pop and rock artists as Neil Diamond, Grace Jones, Van Morrison, and Julie Andrews.
Its original film score credits include Brainstorm, Krull, Chariots of Fire, Sphinx, and The Secret of NIMH, and in such film score excerpt albums as Cinema Italiano: Film Scores of Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota (conducted by Henry Mancini), collections of Miklos Rozsa scores, and original scores from MGM Classic Musicals.
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Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Jessye Norman - Sacred Songs
Jessye Norman, Ambrosian Singers, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Gibson
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Arleen Auger, Ann Murray, Ambrosian Singers, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jessye Norman - Spirituals
Jessye Norman, Dalton Baldwin, Ambrosian Singers
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scriabin: Le Poème de l'extase, Piano Concerto, Prometheus
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ambrosian Singers, The Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1971
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor
Jascha Horenstein, London Symphony Orchestra, Norma Procter, Ambrosian Singers, Wandsworth School Boys Choir
Klassiek - Released by Urania Records on 17 jun. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Op.19; Two Portraits Op.5 / Prokofiev: Scythian Suite Op. 20
Shlomo Mintz, Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Claudio Abbado
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra
Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Gianfranco Masini
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: I Lombardi
Cristina Deutekom, Plácido Domingo, Ruggero Raimondi, Ambrosian Singers, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joan Sutherland: Joy to the World
Dame Joan Sutherland, Ambrosian Singers, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Scenes from Verdi Operas
Nicolaï Ghiaurov, Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1969
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Un Giorno di Regno
Fiorenza Cossotto, Jessye Norman, José Carreras, Ambrosian Singers, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Il Corsaro
Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Jessye Norman, Ambrosian Singers, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scriabin Piano Concerto Op. 20, Prometheus and Le Poème de l'extase
Ambrosian Singers, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lorin Maazel, London Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Mangora Classical on 11 jun. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bliss: Music for Strings, Meditations on a Theme by John Blow & A Prayer to the Infant Jesus
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers, Hugo Rignold, Philip Ledger
Klassiek - Released by Lyrita on 1 nov. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Treasures Of Operetta, Vol. 2
Marilyn Hill Smith, Peter Morrison, Barry Knight, Chandos Concert Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers
Liederen - Released by Chandos on 1 nov. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Händel: The Messiah - Highlights
Ambrosian Singers, I Solisti Veneti, Claudio Scimone
Klassiek - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on 7 nov. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Sings
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Ambrosian Singers, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Blue Pie Records USA on 1 jan. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream; First Walpurgis Night
Ambrosian Singers, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Wiener Singverein, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: Ode to St. Cecilia
April Cantelo, Alfred Deller, Peter Salmon, Ambrosian Singers, Kalmar Chamber Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Past Classics on 17 jul. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anonymous: Missa "Caput" (Mono Version)
Ambrosian Singers, Denis Stevens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bliss : Meditations on a Theme by John Blow
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers
Religieuze vocale muziek - Released by Lyrita on 1 nov. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo