The BBC Concert Orchestra
Of the five orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Company, the BBC Concert Orchestra is the most oriented toward light music, popular music, and jazz. The orchestra's name is somewhat inaccurate: although it does often perform live concerts, the group's most important tasks are connected to radio broadcasting.
The BBC Concert Orchestra grew out of the BBC Theatre Orchestra, which was formed in 1931 and was later renamed the BBC Opera Orchestra. In 1952, that group was reorganized as the BBC Concert Orchestra. The following year, it became the house orchestra for the BBC program Friday Night is Music Night, which as of the late 2010s, remained on the air as the world's longest-running radio program. The orchestra performed a variety of other light music on BBC programs, accompanied popular singers, sometimes teamed with the BBC Big Band, and at times performed operatic and symphonic works. For two decades, the group gave live concerts at London's Camden Theatre, moving to the Hippodrome in North London in 1972. The orchestra's first conductor was Gilbert Vinter. Subsequent conductors have included Charles Mackerras (1954-1956), Vilem Tausky (1956-1966), Marcus Dods (1966-1970), Ashley Lawrence (1970-1989), Barry Wordsworth (1989-2006), Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart (2010-2017, remaining as the principal guest conductor), and Bramwell Tovey (2018-). Composers associated with the BBC Concert Orchestra have sometimes been associated with popular music spheres; they include Radiohead guitarist and keyboardist Jonny Greenwood, who became the orchestra's composer-in-association in 2004. The orchestra's other responsibilities have included recording jingles for BBC News programs.
The BBC Concert Orchestra has a large catalog of recordings, many of them covering British light music, film music, and symphonic music that has not been recorded elsewhere. Many of their recordings have appeared on the Bainbridge, Excalibur, Dutton Laboratories (which has issued a lengthy series of light music/easy listening recordings), Chandos, and Somm labels. In 2019, the orchestra issued an album on Regent of music by its new composer-in-residence, Dobrinka Tabakova.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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I. The Future Strings Variation (Arr. by Davide Mantovani)
Seckou Keita, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Mark Heron
Classical - Released by Claves Records on 21 Mar 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chisholm: Symphony No. 2 - Hold: The Unreturning Spring - Fogg: Merok & Sea Sheen
Erik Chisholm, The BBC Concert Orchestra, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 22 Oct 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montague Phillips - Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 25 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Farnon: Symphony No. 2 & Captain Horatio Hornblower Suite
Classical - Released by Dutton on 23 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Cinema 1
Film Soundtracks - Released by Plaza Mayor Company, Ltd. on 25 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar : Orchestral Songs
Henk Neven, Barry Collett, Nathalie de Montmollin, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth, Kathryn Rudge
Secular Vocal Music - Released by SOMM Recordings on 31 Aug 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto: II. Languid Blues
The BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews, Rebeca Omordia
Concertos - Released by Resonus Classics on 10 Mar 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
York Bowen: Piano Concerto Nos 2 & 3
Classical - Released by Dutton on 13 Nov 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Montague Phillips: Symphony in C Etc.
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 27 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elinor Remick Warren - The Legend of King Arthur
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 1 Nov 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Arnell - Punch and the Child
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 1 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Cinema 2
Film Soundtracks - Released by Plaza Mayor Company, Ltd. on 30 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
York Bowen Piano & Violin Concertos
Classical - Released by Dutton on 22 May 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La belle dame
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Rupert Marshall-Luck, Roderick Williams, John Andrews
Classical - Released by EM Records on 19 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Broadway
Renée Fleming, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Rob Fisher
Musical Theatre - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 7 Sep 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
ANDERSON, L.: Sleigh Ride and Other Holiday Favourites (BBC Concert Orchestra, L. Slatkin)
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Catherine Moore, Leonard Slatkin, David McCallum, John Blackshaw
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Musique Orchestrale (Volume 3)
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Alasdair Malloy, Catherine Moore, Leonard Slatkin
Classical - Released by Naxos on 12 Jun 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vissi d'Arte - Opera for Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 4 Nov 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amore
Joseph Calleja, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Steven Mercurio
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Something's Gotta Give
Simon Keenlyside, Scarlett Strallen, The BBC Concert Orchestra, David Charles Abell
Musical Theatre - Released by Chandos on 1 Nov 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nyman: The Diary of Anne Frank - Arr. Harle: If
Jess Gillam, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Jessica Cottis
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 7 Sep 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo