Adrian Leaper
Adrian Leaper is a conductor internationally known more through recordings than personal appearances, although his career has taken him throughout Europe. Leaper has made more than 100 albums, mostly of large-scale romantic music and British light classics, predominantly for the Naxos/Marco Polo and ASV labels.
Born in the U.K. in 1953, Leaper studied at the Royal Academy of Music and served several seasons as co-principal horn in the Philharmonia Orchestra before switching exclusively to conducting. In 1986, after an international competition, Leaper was selected as assistant conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, a post he held for five years. It was during this period that he began recording, at first mainly with Czech and Slovak orchestras, for Naxos. Upon the expiration of his Hallé contract, Leaper entered a period of extensive guest conducting, making the rounds of European radio and provincial orchestras, as well as the leading orchestras of London. In 1994, he became director of the Orquesta Filharmónia de Gran Canaria, a position he held for seven years. With this ensemble, Leaper became more interested in Spanish repertory and made some 40 recordings. In September 2001, he shifted his activity to the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, serving as music director.
Leaper's Nielsen symphony cycle on Naxos was generally well-received in the mid-'90s, and his recordings often find favor with critics for their sense of musical architecture and for Leaper's ability to make secondary orchestras play well. On the other hand, Leaper is sometimes faulted, though not generally by reserved British critics, for somewhat staid readings of passionate music by the likes of Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Sibelius. He continued to record for Naxos into the new century but also released albums on Arte Nova, ASV, and other labels. He has been an enthusiastic champion of British light music (his 1994 album of music by Edward German with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra rose to top classical chart levels in 2022) and of lesser-known repertory. In 2016, Leaper led the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in an album of music by José Luis Greco for Naxos' American Classics series.
© James Reel & James Manheim /TiVo
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Sibelius: Violin Concerto, Symphony No. 5
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 Oct 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
William Walton: Symphony No. 1
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 Mar 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Vier letze Lieder, Don Quixote
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 4 Apr 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Halffter: Sinfonietta; 2 Esquisses Symphoniques; Al Amanecer
Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Symphony No.8 / Slavonic Dances
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 3 Feb 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Adrian Leaper
Symphonic Music - Released by Naxos on 19 May 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Leaper
Symphonic Music - Released by Naxos on 12 Jan 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 May 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No.1
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 Feb 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez / Turina: Canto a Sevilla
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 Oct 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 Apr 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 7
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 25 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alberto Williams: Symphony No. 7, Poema Del Iguazú
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 Mar 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Piano Concerto; Szymanowski: Symphony No. 4 "Symphonie concertante"
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 May 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jesús Torres: Sinfonia, Movimiento, Partita
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta de Radio Television Espanola, Gianandrea Noseda, Josep Caballé, Orquesta De Cadaques, Joven Orquesta Nacional De Espana
Classical - Released by Tritó on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances
Adrian Leaper, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 23 Apr 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Obradors: El poema de la jungla / Rodo: Symphony No. 2
Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9; Slavonic Dances Nos. 5-8
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 25 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
GRIEG / SIBELIUS: Romantic Music for Strings
Capella Istropolitana, Adrian Leaper
Classical - Released by Naxos on 12 Apr 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Special Edition: Dvorak: Sym. No. 9 "Aus der neuen Welt"
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 25 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
William Walton: Symphony No.1
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 1 Mar 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo