Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
The Slovak Philharmonic (in Slovak, Slovenská filharmónia) is one of the youngest among Europe's great symphonic ensembles, yet it has gained international renown in the 1990s and early 2000s. The orchestra has recorded extensively and has attracted top-notch international collaborators. The Slovak Philharmonic was founded in Bratislava, then part of Czechoslovakia, in 1949. Its first conductor, Vaclav Talich, and first music director, Ludovit Ratjer, were key figures in the orchestra's formation and emergence. In the 1950s, the orchestra began giving concerts in the handsome 1773 Reduta Bratislava concert hall, which has remained its home base. After Rajter stepped down as conductor in 1976, the orchestra had several other highly regarded conductors including Ladislav Slovak (until 1981), Libor Pesek, and, in 1990 and 1991, Aldo Ceccato, its first conductor from outside Czechoslovak lands. After Slovakia split peacefully from the Czech Republic in 1993, the Slovak Philharmonic went from being a strong orchestra in a country with many of them to something of a national flagship, and it increasingly attracted foreign conductors and instrumental collaborators as guests. Among the former group have been Claudio Abbado, Sergiu Celibidache, and Mariss Jansons. The permanent conductorship, however, remained mostly in Slovak and Czech hands; the renowned Jiří Bělohlávek served a term in the 2003-2004 season. That changed with the appointment of France's Emmanuel Villaume in 2009; he remained in the job until 2016, when he was succeeded by Britain's James Judd, a former conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the founder of the Miami Music Project. The orchestra has also been led in recent years by its permanent guest conductors, Leos Svarovsky (until 2018), Rastislav Stur, and Petr Altrichter. The orchestra has a large collection of recordings, most of them on the Naxos, Zebralution, and Denon labels; on Naxos the group released a recording of symphonic poems from Bedřich Smetana's Swedish period.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Dvorak: Symphony No. 1 / Legends Op. 59, Nos. 1-5
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Gunzenhauser
Classical - Released by Naxos on 12 Apr 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3, 'scottish' / The Hebrides / Meeresstille Und Gluckliche Fahrt
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Oliver von Dohnanyi
Classical - Released by Naxos on 23 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Night on Mount Triglav / Pan Voyevoda
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bystrík Režucha
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 31 Dec 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 - Barcarolle - Capriccio Italien
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bystrík Režucha
Concertos - Released by Maestro on 7 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Klavierkonzert Nr. 1
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pešek, Ida Cernecka, Dubravka Tomsic
Symphonic Music - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies n°8 et n°9
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Michael Halasz
Classical - Released by Naxos on 2 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Ludovit Rajter, Edgar Seipenbusch
Classical - Released by Naxos on 3 Feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Majestic Marches
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Hayman
Classical - Released by Naxos on 30 Mar 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
RHAPSODY
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Jean, Zdenek Kosler, Matyas Antal
Classical - Released by Naxos on 28 May 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 5
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Apr 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schreker : Overture / Preludes
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Edgar Seipenbusch
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 31 Dec 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bolero and Pictures at an Exhibition: Ravel's Bolero · Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
Classical - Released by Inspired Studios on 11 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor - Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Keith Clark and Mariko Honda
Classical - Released by SMOOTH CLASSICAL on 23 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Three Aspects of Mozart: Requiem Mass, Gran Partita and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Classical - Released by X5 Music Group on 30 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Brahms Symphonies, Symphony No. 4 in E minor - Variations on a Theme by J. Haydn
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Bratislava Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Digital Masterworks on 31 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bloch: Symphony in C-Sharp Minor, B. 29
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Stephen Gunzenhauser
Classical - Released by Amadis on 2 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Lohengrin Opera Prelude Act 1 - Lohengrin Opera Prelude Act 3 - Parsifal Overture
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MENDELSSOHN : The Best Of Mendelssohn
Classical - Released by Naxos on 2 Aug 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
TCHAIKOVSKI A WAGNER
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Smetacek, Ladislav Slovák, Zdenek Kosler
Classical - Released by Pierre Verany on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n°6
Philharmonia Hungarica, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Gilbert Varga, Michael Halasz
Classical - Released by Naxos on 9 Dec 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Overtures
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Edgar Seipenbusch
Classical - Released by Naxos on 31 Dec 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo