Ulster Orchestra
Based in Belfast, the Ulster Orchestra performs across Northern Ireland and beyond, including in the Republic of Ireland. The only professional symphony orchestra in Northern Ireland, the group has a large recording catalog, comprising more than 40 albums as of the early 2020s.
The Ulster Orchestra was founded in 1966 by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Its immediate predecessor was the semi-professional City of Belfast Symphony Orchestra, which was disbanded at that time. The orchestra's first conductor was Maurice Miles, who served for a single year; he was replaced by Sergiu Comissiona, who conducted the orchestra from 1967 to 1969 and was the first of its many conductors to hail from beyond Northern Ireland and beyond Britain. Comissiona was succeeded by Edgar Cosma, Alun Francis, and Bryden Thomson; the latter oversaw a substantial expansion of the group as the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra disbanded in 1981, and many of its players moved to the Ulster Orchestra. The group now has 63 full-time players, and despite some funding crises, it has remained stable thanks to support from the Arts Council and the city of Belfast. Concerts are held mostly at Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall in Belfast. In 1990, the orchestra released the album Shaun Davey: The Relief of Derry Symphony on the Tara label. The following year, the group began a long association with the Chandos label, issuing Stanford: Irish Rhapsodies, Clarinet Concerto.
The Ulster Orchestra has had many music directors, typically retaining them for periods of just a few years. Thomson's successors included Vernon Handley (1985-1989), who was later named conductor laureate, Yan Pascal Tortelier (1989-1992), En Shao (1992-1995), JoAnn Falletta (2011-2014), the group's first female and first American conductor, and Daniele Rustioni (2019-). The orchestra has a strong commitment to contemporary music and has employed Brian Irvine and Ian Wilson as Associate Composers. The Ulster Orchestra is often heard live on the BBC 3 network and is noted for its educational and outreach programs in the Belfast community. The group's recordings are notable for their variety, extending from crossover releases of classical favorites to thorny contemporary works. The orchestra has made numerous recordings for Chandos, Naxos, Hyperion (where it has been heard on several installments of the label's Classical Piano Concerto and Romantic Piano Concerto series), and Somm, where it was heard on a 2022 recording of Kurt Weill's little-recorded Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 2.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Moeran: Violin Concerto & 2 Pieces for Small Orchestra
Vernon Handley, Ulster Orchestra, Lydia Mordkovitch
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Chandos am 01.01.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Naxos March 2015 New Release Sampler
Klassik - Erschienen bei Naxos Special Projects am 01.03.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Françaix: Ballet Music & Piano Concertino
Ulster Orchestra, Thierry Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.03.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Françaix: Symphony, Scuola di Ballo & Other Orchestral Music
Ulster Orchestra, Thierry Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.04.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dussek: Piano Concertos Op. 3, 14 & 49 (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 5)
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 31.08.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stanford: A Song of Agincourt & Other Works
Ulster Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 02.08.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1
Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Chandos am 01.08.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen Suites & L'Arlesienne Suites
Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra, Christopher Swann, Colin Fleming, Paul Young, Theresia van Hellenburg Hubar
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Chandos am 01.01.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Popplewell: Organ Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Jane Watts, Ulster Orchestra, Sir David Willcocks
Klassik - Erschienen bei Priory Records am 13.08.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Favourites
Vernon Handley, Ulster Orchestra
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Chandos am 01.03.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Steibelt: Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 5 & 7 Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 2)
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 31.12.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dussek: Piano Concertos Op. 1/3, 29 & 70 (Hyperion Classical Piano Concerto 1)
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 27.07.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies n° 3, 5 & 8
Northern Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, Heinrich Schiff, Vernon Handley
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Chandos am 01.04.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Piano Concerto, Lyric Suite & Peer Gynt Suite No. 2
Vernon Handley, Ulster Orchestra, Margaret Fingerhut
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Chandos am 01.02.1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Conor Mitchell: Our Day - EP
Giselle Allan, Eamonn Mulhall, Marcella Walsh, Ulster Orchestra, Fergus Shiel
Oper - Erschienen bei NMC Recordings am 30.07.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo