Adrian Leaper
Adrian Leaper is a conductor internationally known more through recordings than personal appearances, although his career has taken him throughout Europe. Leaper has made more than 100 albums, mostly of large-scale romantic music and British light classics, predominantly for the Naxos/Marco Polo and ASV labels.
Born in the U.K. in 1953, Leaper studied at the Royal Academy of Music and served several seasons as co-principal horn in the Philharmonia Orchestra before switching exclusively to conducting. In 1986, after an international competition, Leaper was selected as assistant conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, a post he held for five years. It was during this period that he began recording, at first mainly with Czech and Slovak orchestras, for Naxos. Upon the expiration of his Hallé contract, Leaper entered a period of extensive guest conducting, making the rounds of European radio and provincial orchestras, as well as the leading orchestras of London. In 1994, he became director of the Orquesta Filharmónia de Gran Canaria, a position he held for seven years. With this ensemble, Leaper became more interested in Spanish repertory and made some 40 recordings. In September 2001, he shifted his activity to the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, serving as music director.
Leaper's Nielsen symphony cycle on Naxos was generally well-received in the mid-'90s, and his recordings often find favor with critics for their sense of musical architecture and for Leaper's ability to make secondary orchestras play well. On the other hand, Leaper is sometimes faulted, though not generally by reserved British critics, for somewhat staid readings of passionate music by the likes of Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Sibelius. He continued to record for Naxos into the new century but also released albums on Arte Nova, ASV, and other labels. He has been an enthusiastic champion of British light music (his 1994 album of music by Edward German with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra rose to top classical chart levels in 2022) and of lesser-known repertory. In 2016, Leaper led the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in an album of music by José Luis Greco for Naxos' American Classics series.
© James Reel & James Manheim /TiVo
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BANTOCK: Hebridean Symphony / Old English Suite
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CHEN / HE: Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (The) / YIN: The Yellow River Piano Concerto
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Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 31 Dec 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
E. Coates: British Light Music
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Classical - Released by Naxos on 25 Jun 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holst: The Planets, Op. 32
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Chorus, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Unclassified on 16 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Symphonie 9
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 25 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SIBELIUS (THE BEST OF)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Dong-Suk Kang, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Naxos on 2 Jun 1997
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SIBELIUS COLLECTION
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dong-Suk Kang, Capella Istropolitana, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Naxos on 17 May 1994
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Richard Strauss: Don Quichotte op. 35 / Vier letze Lieder AV 150
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 4 Apr 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Largo aus der "Neuen Welt" / 9. Sinfonie (Largo from The New World)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical - Sony Music on 8 Mar 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
KETELBEY: In a Monastery Garden / Chal Romano
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
GERMAN: Nell Gwyn / Gipsy Suite / Henry VIII
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
FARNON: Colditz March / State Occasion
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holst: Les Planètes
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 26 Jun 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
ELGAR: Cello Concerto / Introduction and Allegro / Serenade for Strings
Maria Kliegel, Capella Istropolitana, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Leaper, Michael Halasz
Classical - Released by Naxos on 8 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
British Light Music
RTE Concert Orchestra, Adrian Leaper
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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CURZON: In Malaga / Robin Hood / Punchinello
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Silvia Capova, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 7 Dec 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chu / Liu / Sheng / Xu / Yin / Shi: Yellow River Piano Concerto (The) / Chinese Works for Piano Solo
Chengzong Yin, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Leaper
Asia - Released by Marco-Polo on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holst: The Planets / Suite De Ballet, Op. 10
CSR Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava, Viktor Simcisko, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Naxos on 19 Nov 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
English Festival
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Xian: Yellow River Cantata (The) / Chu: The Yellow River Piano Concerto
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Asia - Released by Marco-Polo on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo