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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Tchaikovsky Treasures
Guy Braunstein, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 1 Apr 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos 5 & 6
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Symphonies - Released by Ica Classics on 22 Apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lutoslawski: Piano Concerto; Partita; Chain 2
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Krystian Zimerman, Phillip Moll, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Witold Lutosławski
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 18 Mar 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Judith Weir: The Welcome Arrival of Rain
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 4 Feb 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Warsaw Concerto - romantic piano classics from the silver screen
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, The Cleveland Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hugh Wolff
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lutoslawski: Partita; Chain 2 & 3; Novelette
Anne-Sophie Mutter, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Witold Lutosławski
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius - Sea Pictures
Sarah Connolly, Stuart Skelton, BBC Symphony Chorus, David Soar, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Chandos on 29 Sep 2014
Gramophone Award24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lutosławski: Symphonic Variations, Piano Concerto, Variations on a Theme of Paganini & Symphony No. 4
Edward Gardner, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Louis Lortie
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 27 Dec 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg & Schumann Piano Concertos
Stephen Kovacevich, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms - Piano Concertos
Stephen Hough, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by Parlophone UK on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bliss: Morning Heroes & Hymn to Apollo
Samuel West, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Chandos on 25 Sep 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Improvisations on an Impromptu of Benjamin Britten, Cello Concerto & Symphony No. 2
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Paul Watkins, Edward Gardner
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Mar 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Takemitsu: I Hear The Water Dreaming; Toward The Sea I/II/III
Patrick Gallois, Fabrice Pierre, Göran Söllscher, Pierre Henri Xuereb, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Witold Lutoslawski : Piano Concerto, Chain 3...
Krystian Zimerman, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Witold Lutosławski
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Great Choral Works
London Symphony Chorus, John Alldis Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15
Stephen Hough, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michel Camilo: Concerto for Piano & Orchestra; Suite for piano, harp & strings; Caribe
Michel Camilo, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Last Night Of The Proms
Sir Colin Davis, Jessye Norman, BBC Choral Society, BBC Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Dvořák: Cello Concertos (Live)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jacqueline du Pré, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on 6 Apr 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Edward Elgar - The Spirit of England
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 1 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo