Oslo 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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Honegger: Pacific 231, Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 "Liturgique"
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler Symphony No. 3
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Choir
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 18 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Suites from Romeo and Juliet
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphonies No.1 & 9
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev : Suite Nos. 1 & 2 from Romeo and Juliet
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonic Poems - Music by Johan Selmer and Johan Svendsen
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 2 Aug 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mortensen: Symphony No. 1, Wind Quintet & Suite for Wind Quintet
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Wind Quintet, Oslo Wind Soloists
Classical - Released by Aurora Records AS on 10 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Cello Concerto No. 2 - Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme
Truls Mørk, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Portraying Passion
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tora Augestad
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on 12 Nov 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Cello Concerto, Op. 104 - Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations
Truls Mørk, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius, Valen & Others: Violin Works
Camilla Wicks, Symphony Orchestra of Radio Stockholm, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Unknown Artist, Sixten Ehrling, Oivin Fjeldstad
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 12 Dec 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
World Encores
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 23 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Per Nørgård : Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds
Symphonies - Released by Dacapo on 10 Jun 2016
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 & Capriccio Italien
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Apr 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 21 and 22
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Christian Ihle Hadland, Arvid Engegard
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 11 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Overtures and Preludes from the Operas
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5, Op. 47
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 9 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Tapiola, Op. 112
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 4 Feb 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor Op 68
Classical - Released by Simax Classics on 23 Nov 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 "Organ Symphony" & Violin Concerto No. 3
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Romeo and Juliet & Francesca da Rimini
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo