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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Finzi: Orchestral Works
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rodney Friend, Peter Katin, Sir Adrian Boult, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Feb 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre & Götterdämmerung (Excerpts, Live)
Kirsten Flagstad, Lauritz Melchior, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 29 Oct 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Petrouchka (2023 Remaster from the Original Somerset Tapes)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hugo Rignold
Classical - Released by Somerset on 17 Feb 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leigh: Concertino for Harpsichord & Works for Orchestra
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Trevor Pinnock, Nicholas Braithwaite, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Jun 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Parry: Complete Symphonies
Matthias Bamert, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Oct 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton Conducts Walton
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Katin, William Walton
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moeran: Cello Concerto, Cello Sonata & Prelude
Peers Coetmore, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eric Parkin, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Nov 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
H. Brian: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 16 - A. Cooke: Symphony No. 3
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Myer Fredman, Nicholas Braithwaite
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 10 Jun 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 6
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Nov 2010
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 4 / En Saga (Beecham) (1935-1939)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham
Classical - Released by Naxos on 7 May 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 (Weingartner) (1933, 1936)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Félix Weingartner
Symphonic Music - Released by Naxos on 18 Feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8 (Weingartner) (1936)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Félix Weingartner
Classical - Released by Naxos on 12 May 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 (Weingartner) (1927, 1932)
The British Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Félix Weingartner
Symphonic Music - Released by Naxos on 22 Feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WORKS I
Joe Hisaishi, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Universal Music LLC on 15 Oct 1997
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mysterium - Sacred Arias
Angela Gheorghiu, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ion Marin
Classical - Released by UMSM on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: The 6 Violin Concertos
Salvatore Accardo, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kashmir - Symphonic Led Zeppelin
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Scholes, Jaz Coleman
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Turandot (Highlights)
Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballé, Nicolaï Ghiaurov, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boult Conducts Parry
London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Orchestral Works
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, New Queen's Hall Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: The 12 "London" Symphonies
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eugen Jochum
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2003
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo