Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra is a central institution of the British classical concert scene, performing major repertory works, British standards, contemporary music, and more. Especially on recordings, the group has also engaged with music from beyond the classical sphere.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1932 in response to a consensus that London's major orchestras, lacking strong artistic leadership, were inferior to those in Germany and even the U.S. So conductor Sir Thomas Beecham assembled a crack membership of 106 players, and the new orchestra was successful from the start. Beecham steered the group through financial difficulties at the beginning of World War II before resigning for health reasons and due to conflicts over the ensemble's artistic direction. Postwar conductors included Eduard van Beinum (1947 to 1951) and Sir Adrian Boult (1951 to 1958); the latter inaugurated an active recording program, releasing albums that remain standards to this day.
In 1966, Bernard Haitink became the orchestra's principal conductor; his tenure, lasting until 1979, was longer than that of any other conductor of the group until Vladimir Jurowski. The orchestra renovated a disused church, renamed it Henry Wood Hall, and began to use the space for rehearsals and recordings in 1975. Haitink's successor was another giant, Sir Georg Solti, who served as principal conductor from 1979 to 1983 and continued as conductor emeritus afterward, often appearing and recording with the orchestra. Solti was succeeded by a trio of Germans, Klaus Tennstedt in 1983, Franz Welser-Möst in 1990, and Kurt Masur in 2000. Welser-Möst officially installed the orchestra as the resident ensemble of the Royal Festival Hall, which remains its main concert venue.
The orchestra has also had numerous guest conductors over the years, and these have been responsible for many of its crossover releases. Although not as active in this field as the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic has made high-visibility film soundtrack recordings. These include soundtracks for such films as Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The Fly (1986), and the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, as well as the anthology Academy Award Themes (1984). The orchestra has released albums devoted to the music of progressive rock bands Pink Floyd and Yes, and as far back as 1959, it released the album Hawaiian Paradise. In 2011, the London Philharmonic recorded 205 national anthems in preparation for the London Olympic Games of the following year. The orchestra's album releases, classical and otherwise, numbered 280 by 1997 and has increased by well over 250 albums since then; in the year 2001 alone, the orchestra released 21 albums. The London Philharmonic established its own LPO label in the mid-2000s decade and has issued large amounts of music, both classical and not, including Genius of Film Music: Hollywood Blockbusters 1980s to 2000s, in 2018.
In 2007, the London Philharmonic was in the forefront of taking advantage of the wave of talented Russian musicians who had emigrated to the West, installing Vladimir Jurowski as principal conductor. He remained in the post until 2020, becoming the orchestra's longest-serving conductor and leading the group in a 2021 recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand"). In 2020, Karina Canellakis became the orchestra's first female principal guest conductor. Jurowski was succeeded in 2021 by Edward Gardner, who became the group's first British principal conductor for decades.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Bruno Walter's The Vienna Farewell Concert (1960)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Bruno Walter
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Furtwangler: The Best Studio Recordings (1929-1943)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 102 & 104
André Previn, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 May 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Strauss II: Graduation Ball; Le Beau Danube
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Antal Doráti, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6 - "Pathetique"; Romeo & Juliet
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
Opera - Released by World Classical Music Digital on 17 Mar 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Sinfonie No. 8 "Unvollendete"
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by Vienna Classics Records on 24 Sep 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vienna New Year's Concert
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Willi Boskovsky
Classical - Released by Classic Style on 27 Nov 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat for 13 Wind Instruments, K. 361 - "Gran Partita"
Classical - Released by Past Classics on 18 Mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven by H.V.Karajan: Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125 (Remastered 2021)
Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 12 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 "Pathétique"
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippe Jordan
Classical - Released by Wiener Symphoniker on 9 Sep 2014
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Don Quichotte, Op. 35 (Mono Version)
Pierre Fournier, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Clemens Krauss
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 6 "Pastorale" (Mono Version)
Wilhelm Furtwängler, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nights in Vienna (Stereo Version)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: 5 Danses slaves Op. 46 & Op. 72 - Brahms: 8 Danses hongroises (Mono Version)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Wagner
Bruno Walter, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Wagner
Classical - Released by In Vinyl We Trust on 16 Sep 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 6 Pathetique, Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky
Classical - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 17 Dec 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384
Opera - Released by Orfeo on 11 Jul 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan" (Live)
Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Alfred Poell, Lorin Maazel, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by Archipel on 24 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Wilhelm Backhaus, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1952
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach, Handel & Pfitzner: Works
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Ulrich Grehling, Hans Knappertsbusch, Erich Röhn, Berliner Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by Archipel on 17 Feb 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo