BBC Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1904 and therefore the oldest of the city's symphony orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra became world-renowned for recordings that date back to early gramophone records in 1912. Amid decades of diverse classical programming that followed, including performances for radio and TV, the orchestra also became known for its appearances in numerous film scores, including the Star Wars series. The LSO also tours and first visited North America in 1912 (narrowly avoiding passage on the Titanic).
The ensemble's direct antecedent was the Queen's Hall Orchestra, formed in 1895 for conductor Henry Wood's series of Promenade Concerts. The summer series was so successful that a series of weekly Sunday afternoon concerts was established the same year. The orchestra, however, had never become a permanent group; its members could and often did send other musicians to substitute for them at concerts. In 1904, Wood attempted to end this practice, prompting 46 members to leave and form their own orchestra.
The London Symphony Orchestra was organized as a self-governing corporation administered by a board selected by the players. They arranged for the great Hans Richter to conduct the inaugural concert, and continued to engage a variety of conductors, practically introducing the concept of the guest conductor to the London musical scene. Soon, though, the title and post of principal conductor was established for Richter. The LSO's connection with the BBC goes back to 1924 when Ralph Vaughan Williams conducted the orchestra in the premiere broadcast performance of his Pastoral Symphony. It was the unofficial orchestra in residence for the BBC until the formation of the BBC Symphony in 1930 and continued to broadcast concerts and provide background music for many BBC productions. Other conductors most associated with the orchestra's first few decades include Edward Elgar and Thomas Beecham. During World War II, Wood was welcomed for a series of concerts.
The War took its toll on orchestra membership as it had the general populace, and a concurrent drop in private funding led to increased reliance on the state arts council. This eventually led to structural reorganization in the 1950s, resulting in increased professional standards and the abandonment of profit-sharing; players became salaried employees. The revamped orchestra made only its second tour of the United States in 1963 (the first had been in 1912), and in 1964 embarked on its first world tour. In the mid-1960s the city of London broke ground for the Barbican Arts Centre, intended as the LSO's permanent home. The building was an architectural and acoustic success, and since 1982 has provided the orchestra the solid base it lacked during the first 70-plus years of its existence. The venue opened under principal conductor Claudio Abbado, who took over for André Previn in 1979.
In the meantime, the orchestra made its Star Wars debut, performing John Williams' score for the original 1977 film. While the organization had recorded its first film score in 1935 (H.G. Wells' Things to Come) and appeared in such classics as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, and The Sound of Music, Star Wars won three Grammys, an Academy Award, and a BAFTA, among many other accolades, sold over a million copies in the U.S. and over 100,000 in the U.K., and endures as a touchstone in modern film music. The LSO went on to record music for the franchise's entire first two trilogies as well as films like 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1993's Schindler's List, 1997's Titanic, and select installments of the Harry Potter series.
During the tenure of Colin Davis, who was named principal conductor in 1995, the LSO established its own record label, LSO Live. Dvorák's Symphony No. 9, recorded at Barbican Centre in 1999 and released in 2000, bears catalog number 0001. Their 2000 recording of Berlioz's Les Troyens won two Grammys in 2002, and Verdi's Falstaff took home the Best Opera Grammy in 2006. In 2007, Davis took the position of orchestra president, its first since Leonard Bernstein's passing in 1990, and Valery Gergiev became principal conductor.
Also known for crossing over into rock, jazz, and Broadway, among other categories, they followed hit recordings such as Symphonic Rolling Stones and Gershwin Fantasy (with Joshua Bell) with albums like 2017's Someone to Watch Over Me, which had them accompanying archival recordings of Ella Fitzgerald.
© Marcy Donelson, Joseph Stevenson & Corie Stanton Root /TiVo
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Granados: Goyescas (Live)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Josep Pons
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 24 May 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Roy Harris & John Adams: Violin Concertos
Tamsin Waley-Cohen, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 30 Sep 2016
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonic Psalms & Prayers
Tenebrae, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Nigel Short
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 2 Feb 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Howard Skempton: Lento - EP
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mark Wigglesworth
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Op. 55, "Eroica"
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Mar 1968
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Discoveries
Roderick Williams, Jennifer Johnston, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Classical - Released by Albion on 30 Sep 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lutosławski: Symphony No. 3, Chain 3 & Concerto for Orchestra
Edward Gardner, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Oct 2010
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Turnage: Another Set-to, Silent Cities, Four-Horned Fandango & Fractured Lines
Leonard Slatkin, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Christian Lindberg, Evelyn Glennie, Peter Erskine
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Oct 2002
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Granville Bantock: Omar Khayyám
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 8 Jul 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Causton: La terra impareggiabile
Marcus Farnsworth, Huw Watkins, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 28 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Flury: Orchestral Music, Vol. 3
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Paul Mann
Classical - Released by Toccata Classics on 3 Mar 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gerhard: Symphony No. 4 "New York", Pandora Suite
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Matthias Bamert
Classical - Released by Chandos on 30 Nov 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia antartica (Symphony No. 7) & Symphony No. 9
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 3 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
David Bedford: 12 Hours of Sunset
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Apr 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Francis Chagrin : Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Classical - Released by Naxos on 5 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berg, Stravinsky & Vaughan Williams: Orchestral Works (Live)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 17 Nov 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Cello Concerto, Op. 85 (Mono Version)
Paul Tortelier, Sir Malcolm Sargent, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
John McCabe: Symphony No. 4 & Flute Concerto
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Vernon Handley, Emily Beynon
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Oct 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto pour alto - Symphonie n°2
Sarah-Jane Bradley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Garry Walker
Classical - Released by Toccata Classics on 1 Jul 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cooke: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 (Live)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Pritchard, Bernard Keeffe
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 5 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo