Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra is a central institution of the British classical concert scene, performing major repertory works, British standards, contemporary music, and more. Especially on recordings, the group has also engaged with music from beyond the classical sphere.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1932 in response to a consensus that London's major orchestras, lacking strong artistic leadership, were inferior to those in Germany and even the U.S. So conductor Sir Thomas Beecham assembled a crack membership of 106 players, and the new orchestra was successful from the start. Beecham steered the group through financial difficulties at the beginning of World War II before resigning for health reasons and due to conflicts over the ensemble's artistic direction. Postwar conductors included Eduard van Beinum (1947 to 1951) and Sir Adrian Boult (1951 to 1958); the latter inaugurated an active recording program, releasing albums that remain standards to this day.
In 1966, Bernard Haitink became the orchestra's principal conductor; his tenure, lasting until 1979, was longer than that of any other conductor of the group until Vladimir Jurowski. The orchestra renovated a disused church, renamed it Henry Wood Hall, and began to use the space for rehearsals and recordings in 1975. Haitink's successor was another giant, Sir Georg Solti, who served as principal conductor from 1979 to 1983 and continued as conductor emeritus afterward, often appearing and recording with the orchestra. Solti was succeeded by a trio of Germans, Klaus Tennstedt in 1983, Franz Welser-Möst in 1990, and Kurt Masur in 2000. Welser-Möst officially installed the orchestra as the resident ensemble of the Royal Festival Hall, which remains its main concert venue.
The orchestra has also had numerous guest conductors over the years, and these have been responsible for many of its crossover releases. Although not as active in this field as the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic has made high-visibility film soundtrack recordings. These include soundtracks for such films as Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The Fly (1986), and the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, as well as the anthology Academy Award Themes (1984). The orchestra has released albums devoted to the music of progressive rock bands Pink Floyd and Yes, and as far back as 1959, it released the album Hawaiian Paradise. In 2011, the London Philharmonic recorded 205 national anthems in preparation for the London Olympic Games of the following year. The orchestra's album releases, classical and otherwise, numbered 280 by 1997 and has increased by well over 250 albums since then; in the year 2001 alone, the orchestra released 21 albums. The London Philharmonic established its own LPO label in the mid-2000s decade and has issued large amounts of music, both classical and not, including Genius of Film Music: Hollywood Blockbusters 1980s to 2000s, in 2018.
In 2007, the London Philharmonic was in the forefront of taking advantage of the wave of talented Russian musicians who had emigrated to the West, installing Vladimir Jurowski as principal conductor. He remained in the post until 2020, becoming the orchestra's longest-serving conductor and leading the group in a 2021 recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand"). In 2020, Karina Canellakis became the orchestra's first female principal guest conductor. Jurowski was succeeded in 2021 by Edward Gardner, who became the group's first British principal conductor for decades.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Similar artists
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Bruckner: 11 Symphonies
Christian Thielemann, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Sony Classical on 13 Oct 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
John Williams in Vienna
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, John Williams
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 14 Aug 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Symphonies n°5 & n°7
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 20 Feb 1995
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Remastered 2022)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 30 Jun 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Siegfried (Remastered 2022)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1984
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Remastered 2022)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 14 Oct 1997
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre (Remastered 2022)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 14 Oct 1997
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Holst: The Planets
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Neville Creed
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on 26 Oct 2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: 9 Symphonies (Remastered 2017 / Live)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Symphonies - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 2 Jan 1980
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Wagner : Der Ring des Nibelungen
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Opera - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1967
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Puccini: Tosca
Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Giuseppe Taddei, Fernando Corena, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 21
Friedrich Gulda, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1975
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madama Butterfly
Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: The Seven Symphonies
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Sep 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Neujahrskonzert 2024 / New Year's Concert 2024 / Concert du Nouvel An 2024
Christian Thielemann, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 12 Jan 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Golden Ring: Great Scenes from Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 28 Oct 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wiener Konzerte 1944-1954
Classical - Released by Orfeo on 4 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carmen-Fantasie
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Sep 1993
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 20 Feb 1995
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 25 & 27
Friedrich Gulda, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1976
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms : Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83
Krystian Zimerman, Wolfgang Herzer, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo