Howard Griffiths
Conductor Howard Griffiths has an exceptionally long record of guest appearances with orchestras around Europe. He has made more than 100 recordings as a guest and as the long-term leader of Switzerland's Zürcher Kammerorchester and the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester in Germany.
Griffiths was born in Hastings on the south coast of England on February 24, 1950. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London. Griffiths moved to Switzerland in 1981 and has lived there ever since; his personal website is exclusively in the German language. He retained ties in Britain, however, and after performing with the English Chamber Orchestra for the first time in 1993 (in London's Barbican Hall), he appeared regularly with that group. He was the principal guest conductor of the Oxford Orchestra da Camera from 1994 to 1997. Griffiths made his recording debut with the English Chamber Orchestra on the Novalis label in 1991, issuing an album of works by the little-known Classical-period composers J.F.X.D. Stalder and Constantin Reindl. He has continued to cultivate a specialty in the music of lesser-known composers. He also frequently appeared with England's Royal Northern Sinfonia.
Griffiths served as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Zürcher Kammerorchester ("Zurich Chamber Orchestra") from 1996 to 2006, and as chief conductor of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester ("Brandenburg State Orchestra") in Frankfurt, Germany, from 2007 to 2018. With the Zürcher Kammerorchester, he toured as far afield as Eastern Europe, Turkey, and East Asia. His career has been marked by guest appearances with an unusually wide variety of orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic in London, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Orquesta Nacional de España, and the Polish Chamber Orchestra. In performance, he has appeared with such major stars as trumpeter Maurice André, soprano Kathleen Battle, violinist Joshua Bell, and historical pianist Rudolf Buchbinder.
In addition to the neglected repertory of the 18th and 19th centuries, Griffiths has various other specialties, including contemporary music, Swiss music, and Turkish music. He has worked with top contemporary composers such as Hans Werner Henze (giving the Swiss premiere of that composer's Requiem in Henze's presence), George Crumb, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Arvo Pärt. Griffiths' recording catalog is vast and includes albums with many of the orchestras he has worked with over his long career. He has recorded for the CPO, Koch Schwann, Profil, and Sony Classical labels, among others; his recordings of unknown Classical-era and Romantic symphonic repertory have mostly been made for CPO but have involved various orchestras. Griffiths remained active through the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing ten albums between 2020 and 2023, including several recordings of Mozart piano concertos with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg (and various pianists) on the Alpha label. In 2024, Griffiths returned on CPO with an album of viola concertos by C.P.E. Bach and Johann Gottlieb Graun, featuring violist Mathis Rochat and the Camerata Schweiz chamber orchestra.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 KV 456 & 21 KV 467
Howard Griffiths, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Jonathan Fournel
Klassiek - Released by Alpha Classics on 23 feb. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart Piano Concertos No. 11, 13 (KV 413 & 415) & Oboe Concerto KV 314
Roman Borisov, Gabriel Pidoux, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by Alpha Classics on 16 jun. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 KV 218, Piano Concerto No. 6 KV 238 & Flute Concerto No. 1 KV 313
Howard Griffiths, ORF Radio Symphonieorchester Wien
Klassiek - Released by Alpha Classics on 28 okt. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 19 KV 459 - Concerto for Flute & Harp KV 299 - Andante for Flute KV 315 - Horn Concerto No. 1 KV 412/514
ORF Radio Symphonieorchester Wien, Howard Griffiths, Thomas Zehetmair
Klassiek - Released by Alpha Classics on 10 nov. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Keyboard Concertos
Mélodie Zhao, Camerata Schweiz, David Nebel, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 5 feb. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CPE Bach · Johann Gottlieb Graun: Viola Concertos
Mathis Rochat, Camerata Schweiz, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 18 jan. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Josef Holbrooke : Symphonic Poems, Vol. 2
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Judith Ingolfsson, Howard Griffiths
Symfonische muziek - Released by CPO on 23 sep. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Howard Griffiths: Dmitri Shostakovich, Jazz Suite No 2
Antonii Baryshevskyi, Romain Leleu, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by Rondeau Production on 6 jul. 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Clarinet Concerto op.35 · Concertino op. 38
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 21 apr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boieldieu : Piano Concerto - Six Overtures
Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana, Nataša Veljkovíc, Howard Griffiths
Ouvertures - Released by CPO on 18 jan. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cello Concerto No. 1; Symphony Op. 20; Ballad; Romance
Jamal Aliyev, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by Capriccio on 7 apr. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Weber : Complete Overtures
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Howard Griffiths
Symfonische muziek - Released by CPO on 4 mrt. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gustav Holst: Double Concerto - St Paul's Suite - Brook Green Suite
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 24 apr. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Howard Griffiths: Beethoven Rarities
Claire Huangci, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths, Ludwig van Beethoven
Klassiek - Released by Rondeau Production on 23 feb. 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Pejačević: Piano Concerto, Overture & Orchestral Songs
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Ingeborg Danz, Oliver Triendl, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 5 mei 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Holbrooke : Symphonic Poems
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths
Symfonische muziek - Released by CPO on 1 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
FINZI: Clarinet Concerto / Five Bagatelles / Three Soliloquies / Romance
Robert Plane, Lesley Hatfield, Northern Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 3 nov. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rauchenecker: Orchestral Works
Musikkollegium Winterthur, Sebastian Bohren, Howard Griffiths, Sarastro Quartett
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 21 okt. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Finzi: Cello Concerto - Grand Fantasia and Toccata - Eclogue
Tim Hugh, Peter Donohoe, Northern Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths
Concertmuziek - Released by Naxos on 20 nov. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Offenbach : Opera Ouvertures
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths
Ouvertures - Released by CPO on 3 mei 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Krommer: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, & 7
Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana, Howard Griffiths
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 29 dec. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo