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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Walton: Violin Concerto, Violin Sonata & Two Pieces for Violin and Orchestra
Jan Latham-Koenig, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lydia Mordkovitch
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Jun 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Job, a Masque for Dancing, Ballet & The Wasps, Overture
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, Henry Datyner
Classical - Released by Prominence Records on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rosner: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Burchett, Nick palmer
Classical - Released by Toccata Classics on 2 Mar 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Concerto pour violon, Op. 77 (Mono Version)
Artur Rodzinski, Erika Morini, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Erik Satie & Darius Milhaud
Bernard Herrmann, The London Festival Players, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor - The 1958 Debut Recording
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Prominence Records on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
DELIUS: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 (Beecham) (1928, 1938)
Unknown Artist, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jan van der Gucht, BBC Chorus, Thomas Beecham, Royal Opera House Chorus, Covent Garden
Classical - Released by Naxos on 6 Jun 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (Weingartner) (1935, 1938)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Félix Weingartner
Symphonic Music - Released by Naxos on 24 Nov 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Symphonic Tribute to Neil Diamond
Pop - Released by Nifty Music, Inc. on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Elgar: Enigma Variations
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Locatelli, Vieuxtemps & Others: Works (Live)
David Oïstrakh, Igor Oïstrakh, Vladimir Yampolsky, Vladimir Schreibman, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Malcolm Sargent
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 20 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Accardo Plays Paganini- Complete Recordings
Salvatore Accardo, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Sep 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold Overtures
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Arnold
Classical - Released by Reference Recordings on 1 Jan 1992
24-Bit 176.4 kHz - Stereo -
Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
William Hurlstone: Variations on an Original Theme - The Magic Mirror - Variations on a Hungarian Air
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scriabin: Le Poème de l'extase, Piano Concerto, Prometheus
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ambrosian Singers, The Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1971
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Respighi: Pini di Roma, Impressioni brasiliane & Belkis, regina di Saba
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alessandro Crudele
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 3 Jun 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: The Legacy, Vol. 2 (1949-1950)
Eduard van Beinum, Sir Adrian Boult, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 13 Oct 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 29 - 32 (Mono Version)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1 / Franck: Variations Symphoniques / Litolff: Scherzo
Clifford Curzon, London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1962
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems (4 CD)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1972
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo