The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Although it maintains headquarters in London, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe lives up to its name: the group's roughly 60 members come from all over the European continent as well as Britain. Cultivating relationships with many conductors and venues, the orchestra is especially noteworthy for its recording catalog, which has earned critical acclaim and major awards.
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe was founded in 1981 by a group of young players who had aged out of the European Community Youth Orchestra and wanted to continue making music together. One of the initial movers was Douglas Boyd, who remained the orchestra's lead oboist for many years, and numerous other founding members have remained with the group. The idea of forming a smaller orchestra oriented toward Baroque and Classical repertory was common at the time; less common was the orchestra's democratic structure, which involved a small directorate elected annually by the players. There is no permanent conductor, but the Chamber Orchestra of Europe quickly began to catch the attention of some of the biggest names on the podium. Two years after its formation, the group was tapped by Claudio Abbado for a Deutsche Grammophon recording of Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims. The orchestra has worked with conductors Bernard Haitink, Sakari Oramo, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and many others, and has performed or recorded with top-caliber soloists including Janine Jansen, Emanuel Ax, and Renaud and Gautier Capuçon.
Accordingly, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe tours all over Europe (and sometimes in North America), with no identification with a particular city. These connections have resulted in an unusually deep collection of recordings: since the late '80s, multiple recordings of the orchestra have appeared in almost every year, and 2006 alone saw seven Chamber Orchestra of Europe releases. The group was a European Union cultural ambassador from 2007 until 2013. In 2009, the orchestra established the COE Academy to provide educational opportunities for student performers. Many of the group's recordings feature Baroque or Classical repertory (especially Mozart), but not all; in 2018, the orchestra issued Visions of Prokofiev on Deutsche Grammophon. The orchestra's vast, critically acclaimed recording catalog has earned two Grammy Awards and three Record of the Year Awards from Gramophone magazine. In 2020, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, led by Harnoncourt, was heard on a live recording of Schubert's symphonies made at the Styriarte festival in Graz, Austria, in 1988. The following year, the orchestra and Harnoncourt were heard on an album of works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms; these recordings were made at the same festival spanning from 1989 through 2007. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is a nonprofit organization and a registered charity in Britain.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Sibelius : Symphonies 1, 2 & 3
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Paavo Berglund
Symphonic Music - Released by Finlandia on 10 Nov 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chamber Orchestra of Europe - Great Recordings
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 26 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : Symphony No.9 - Rosamunde Overture
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado
Symphonies - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chamber Orchestra of Europe plays Schumann
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 16 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : Symphonies Nos.1 & 2
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado
Symphonies - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il Viaggio A Reims
Cecilia Gasdia, Lucia Valentini Terrani, Edoardo Gimenez, Samuel Ramey, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1983
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyGramophone Record of the Year16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Symphony No.6, 'Pastoral' & Overtures - Elatus
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 25 Aug 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 25 Aug 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn : Symphonies Nos. 93 & 101 "The Clock"
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado
Symphonies - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, K. 621 / Act 2, "Deh per questo istante solo" (Live)
Joyce DiDonato, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 15 Jun 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 - Overture from the Ruins of Athens
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 25 Aug 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss : Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - Dance Suite from Keyboard pieces by F. Couperin
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Erich Leinsdorf
Symphonic Music - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Carols
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Christmas Music - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 1 Jan 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach : 6 Brandenburg Concertos - Oboe Concertos
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Douglas Boyd
Concertos - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 3 Oct 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 - Egmont Overture
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music Of The Masters
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, James Judd
Classical - Released by imp on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Flute Concerto No.1; Bassoon Concerto; Concerto for Flute & Harp
Thierry Fischer, Matthew Wilkie, Charlotte Sprenkels, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Sándor Végh
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart / Strauss: Oboe Concertos
Douglas Boyd, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Paavo Berglund
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C; Sinfonia Concertante in E flat; Clarinet Concerto in A
Douglas Boyd, Richard Hosford, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Alexander Schneider, Paavo Berglund
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius : Symphonies 5 & 7
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Paavo Berglund
Symphonic Music - Released by Fazer Records - Finlandia on 10 Nov 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : The Symphonies
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Symphonies - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 3 Mar 2014
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo