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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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 -
Suk: Prague - A Summer's Tale
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Sep 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Concertos Vol.1 - Piano Concertos Nos.1 - 4 etc.
Stephen Kovacevich, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis, Arthur Grumiaux, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 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 -
Edward Elgar
Jacqueline du Pré, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Huddersfield Choral Society, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Altair on 28 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anna Meredith: Nautilus
Dalia Stasevska, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Anna Meredith
Classical - Released by Platoon on 8 Mar 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Toscanini, Sibelius-Martucci-Mussorgsky
BBC Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic
Classical - Released by Iswjdigital on 9 Jun 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bellini: Adelson e Salvini
Daniela Barcellona, Enea Scala, Maurizio Muraro, Simone Alberghini, Daniele Rustioni, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Opera Rara on 3 Mar 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Causton: La terra impareggiabile
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Marcus Farnsworth, Sakari Oramo, Huw Watkins
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 28 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin; Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion; Divertimento
BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Antal Doráti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bliss: Mary of Magdala, The Enchantress & Meditations on a Theme by John Blow
Sir Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dame Sarah Connolly, James Platt, BBC Symphony Chorus
Cantatas (secular) - Released by Chandos on 1 Nov 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Finlandia, En Saga, The Swan of Tuonela.. by Sir Malcolm Sargent (2023 Remastered)
Sir Malcolm Sargent, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 16 Oct 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Sonata for 2 Violins
Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44 & The Bells, Op. 35 (2023 Remaster) (Live)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Beecham, Sir Henry Wood
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 2 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Birtwistle: Panic / Earth Dances
John Harle, Paul Clarvis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis, The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Werner Henze: Heliogabalus Imperator. Works for Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Oliver Knussen, Anssi Karttunen
Classical - Released by wergo on 17 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John Adams: Doctor Atomic
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, John Adams
Classical - Released by Nonesuch on 29 Jun 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bliss: The Beatitudes, Introduction and Allegro & God Save the Queen
Sir Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Emily Birsan, Ben Johnson, BBC Symphony Chorus, David Temple
Cantatas (secular) - Released by Chandos on 1 Feb 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Durand: La terre et le feu
Gareth Hulse, Hans-Ola Ericsson, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Paul Silverthorne, Pierre-André Valade
Classical - Released by Mode Records on 21 Sep 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo