London Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has held a prominent place in British music-making for more than seven decades. With a wide reach across Britain, in addition to its regular concerts in London's Cadogan Hall, including concerts in places where access to orchestral music is limited, the RPO can lay claim to the title of Britain's national orchestra. The RPO incorporates the pops-oriented Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the avant-garde Sharp Edge group, and RPO Resound, a community and educational outreach program.
The RPO's broad contemporary appeal, which has included appearances with popular music stars and on film, television, and video game soundtracks, would have been lauded by its founder and first conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, who set up the RPO in 1946 and helped lead a vital revival in the U.K.'s orchestral life after World War II. The new orchestra prospered, beginning a long summer residency at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1948 and touring the U.S. in 1950, becoming the first English orchestra to do so since 1912. Rudolf Kempe became principal conductor upon Beecham's death in 1961. The orchestra hit a rough patch in the early '60s under the leadership of Beecham's widow; Kempe departed (and then returned), and the orchestra temporarily lost the right to use the "royal" designation. That was restored by Queen Elizabeth II in 1966, and several strong conductors, Antal Doráti (1975-1978), André Previn (1985-1992), and Vladimir Ashkenazy (music director, 1987-1994), built the orchestra artistically. Later conductors have included Daniele Gatti, Yuri Temirkanov, Charles Dutoit, and Vasily Petrenko, who began his tenure as music director in 2021.
The RPO is especially notable for the depth and variety of its recording program, which in the first few years of its existence had already topped 100 items; by the early 2020s decade, the orchestra had issued many hundreds of recordings, stretching from pop (disco enthusiasts will remember it as the orchestra featured on the Hooked on Classics recordings of the 1980s) to new avant-garde music. Among these was a 125-album contract with the Tring label. The orchestra's RPO Records, formed in 1986, is thought to have been the first recording label owned by a symphony orchestra; such an arrangement is now commonplace. The following year, the RPO launched the light music (or pops in the U.S.) companion group, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
In 1993, the RPO inaugurated an educational and community outreach program titled RPO Resound. This program provides musical experiences outside of traditional concert settings, such as schools, prisons, and hospitals. Among the key projects for this program is the stroke rehabilitation project STROKESTRA. The RPO is the resident music ensemble of Cadogan Hall in Chelsea, becoming the first London orchestra to have a permanent home, giving its first concert there in 2004. In 2019, the RPO released Animal Requiem by rocker Pete Townshend's collaborator and marital partner, Rachel Fuller. That year, the RPO was named the associate orchestra of the Royal Albert Hall. Among the orchestra's 2022 albums are a recording of two Sibelius Symphonies and Air, featuring the music of Oliver Davis. The next year, they teamed with Joe Hisaishi for A Symphonic Celebration, which reimagined songs from beloved Studio Ghibli animated films.
© James Manheim & Keith Finke /TiVo
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Delius: Paris - Eventyr - Koanga - Hassan - To the Queen of My Heart - Love’s Philosophy
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Select Choir, Heddle Nash, Gerald Moore
Classical - Released by Altair on Feb. 11, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walter Goehr Conducts Bizet (London, 1937)
Walter Goehr, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by XXI Music on May 4, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Eduard van Beinum, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by The state51 Conspiracy Ltd on Apr. 3, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Morning Mood (From The "Tesco Mobile - Wake up Call" T.V. Advert)
Film Soundtracks - Released by MD Digital Classical on Aug. 24, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel's Messiah
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Stardust on Jan. 1, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Concert Fantasia
Edric Cundell, Sir Adrian Boult, The New Symphony Orchestra of London, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonic Music - Released by Infinity on May 14, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jean Sibelius: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Minor, Op. 47 - En Saga, Op. 9 - Finlandia, Op. 26 (Recordings of 1935 - 1939)
Jascha Heifetz, Thomas Beecham, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Pop - Released by GazzaLadra on Nov. 30, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No.4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 60 (Recordings of 1934)
Félix Weingartner, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Pop - Released by GazzaLadra on Mar. 31, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, OP. 49 - Hamlet, Fantasy Overture, OP. 67
Classical - Released by Altair on Feb. 17, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Belshazzar's Feast
Dennis Noble, Sir Adrian Boult, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Infinity on May 2, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff & Litolff: Piano Concerto NO. 1, OP. 1 - Piano Concerto NO. 2, OP. 18 - Concerto Symphonique NO. 4
Peter Katin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, The New Symphony Orchestra of London
Keyboard Concertos - Released by Altair on Jul. 24, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev & Britten - Peter and the Wolf - The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Sergei Prokofiev, Benjamin Britten
Classical - Released by Sharp Edge Records on Dec. 31, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana, Liszt, Brahms & Dvorák: The Bartered Bride - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 - Hungarian Dance No. 5 & No. 6 - Carnival Overture - Symphony No. 9
Sir Hamilton Harty, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra
Classical - Released by Infinity on Apr. 25, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo