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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Dvorak: Symphony No. 8 & Symphonic Variations
Charles Mackerras, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 31 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach & Handel Arias [1953 Recording] (Adrian Boult – The Decca Legacy II, Vol. 5)
Kathleen Ferrier, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1953
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Jupiter Symphony - Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Digital Masterworks on 1 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphony NO. 102, Hob.i:102
Symphonic Music - Released by Altair on 15 Feb 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ives: Symphony No. 4
José Serebrier, London Philharmonic Orchestra, John Alldis Choir
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Jul 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ansermet conducts Stravinsky, vol. 2 (Ernest Ansermet Edition, Vol. 2 - London, 1946)
Ernest Ansermet, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by XXI Music on 20 Jul 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky & Glazunov: Violin Concertos
Yuri Simonov, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Kurt Nikkanen
Lounge - Released by Collins Classics on 7 Feb 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Classics of the March
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
Classical - Released by Reader's Digest Music on 1 Oct 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Anthology (Remastered)
London Philarmonic Orchestra, Alfred Scholtz
Symphonic Music - Released by Steel Music on 4 Aug 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orchestral Music - Sibelius, J. / Mozart, W.A. / Handel, G.F. / Chabrier, E. (London Philharmonic, Beecham) (The Founding Years) (1934-1939)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dora Labbette, Thomas Beecham, Leeds Festival Chorus
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
De Falla: The Three Cornered Hat and Love The Magician (2024 Remaster from the Original Somerset Tapes)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hugo Rignold
Classical - Released by Somerset on 26 Apr 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Joseph Haydn, Vol. 3
Thomas Beecham, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by ArnebAudio on 12 Feb 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphony No. 5 & Russian Suite
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Apr 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 96 & 100; Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
London Philarmonic Orchestra / Adrian Boult play: Joseph Haydn: Symphonie Nr. 104 - 7. Londoner (Salomon), MMS 2161
Classical - Released by Classico Ivano on 30 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lalo: Symphonie espagnole; Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
Alfredo Campoli, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 (Live)
Kurt Masur, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 Mar 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
McEwen: Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity
Alasdair Mitchell, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Janice Watson, Brighton Festival Chorus
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Chandos on 1 Oct 1998
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: L'amour des trois oranges, Op. 33a & Lieutenant Kijé, Op. 60 (Mono Version)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Sir Adrian Boult
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphony NO. 35 and 40 - Piano Concerto NO. 20 (Live)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Serkin, Philadelphia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Altair on 20 Jan 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo