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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Claves Records am 21.03.2023
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton Epoch am 22.10.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montague Phillips - Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton Epoch am 25.03.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Farnon: Symphony No. 2 & Captain Horatio Hornblower Suite
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton am 23.10.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Cinema 1
Original Soundtrack - Erschienen bei Plaza Mayor Company, Ltd. am 25.04.2011
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
Weltliche Vokalmusik - Erschienen bei SOMM Recordings am 31.08.2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto: II. Languid Blues
The BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews, Rebeca Omordia
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Resonus Classics am 10.03.2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
York Bowen: Piano Concerto Nos 2 & 3
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton am 13.11.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montague Phillips: Symphony in C Etc.
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton Epoch am 27.06.2019
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton Epoch am 01.11.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Arnell - Punch and the Child
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton Epoch am 01.06.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Cinema 2
Original Soundtrack - Erschienen bei Plaza Mayor Company, Ltd. am 30.05.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
York Bowen Piano & Violin Concertos
Klassik - Erschienen bei Dutton am 22.05.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La belle dame
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Rupert Marshall-Luck, Roderick Williams, John Andrews
Klassik - Erschienen bei EM Records am 19.04.2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Broadway
Renée Fleming, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Rob Fisher
Musical - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 07.09.2018
24-Bit 96.0 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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Naxos am 01.01.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Musique Orchestrale (Volume 3)
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Alasdair Malloy, Catherine Moore, Leonard Slatkin
Klassik - Erschienen bei Naxos am 12.06.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vissi d'Arte - Opera for Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 04.11.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amore
Joseph Calleja, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Steven Mercurio
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Something's Gotta Give
Simon Keenlyside, Scarlett Strallen, The BBC Concert Orchestra, David Charles Abell
Musical - Erschienen bei Chandos am 01.11.2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nyman: The Diary of Anne Frank - Arr. Harle: If
Jess Gillam, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Jessica Cottis
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 07.09.2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo