London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is among the leading ensembles in the U.K., devoted largely to contemporary music. The group has a large recording catalog stretching back to the LP era, much of it on major labels.
The London Sinfonietta was formed in 1968 by administrator Nicholas Snowman and conductor David Atherton. Atherton served as music director until 1973, and he remained active with the group after that, conducting it on early recordings, including a 1980 release of Michael Tippett's opera King Priam. The orchestra has a core of 11 Principal Players, augmented each year by guest performers as needed according to the repertory being performed. The group has commissioned more than 450 new works and given world premieres of hundreds of others. The orchestra's programming is eclectic; it has programmed works by such composers as Luciano Berio, Harrison Birtwistle, Steve Reich, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and it has also performed mainstream repertory, including Bach, Britten, and Stravinsky, and even jazz pieces and works of musical theater. The London Sinfonietta has an artistic director; since 2007, it has been Andrew Burke. It is also often led by guest conductors, which include Markus Stenz and composer Oliver Knussen, among others. Knussen also served as artistic director from 1998 to 2002.
The London Sinfonietta has London's Southbank Centre as its home base, performing several concerts there annually, including an annual concert for schools. The group also appears at other British venues and has toured regularly across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. It has developed novel methods of communicating its work digitally, including a Clapping Music mobile phone game app based on Reich's work of that name. The London Sinfonietta is notable for the depth and variety of its recording catalog, which numbers well over 80 items in the digital era, plus LPs before that. Some of the group's albums have appeared on major labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, CBS/Sony Classical, Decca, and EMI, while others have been issued by smaller contemporary music specialist labels, including the group's own London Sinfonietta label. The London Sinfonietta was heard on the album Luke Bedford: In the Voices of the Living, issued on the NMC label in 2023.
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Similar artists
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Marching to Carcassonne
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Peter Serkin, Oliver Knussen, London Sinfonietta
Classical - Released by Naxos on 25 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harrison Birtwistle: Punch and Judy
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Jan DeGaetani, Stephen Roberts, David Wilson-Johnson, London Sinfonietta, David Atherton
Opera - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anaïs Nin | De Staat
London Sinfonietta, Cristina Zavalloni, David Atherton, Synergy Vocals
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 9 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Larry Goves: Just Stuff People Do
London Sinfonietta, Martyn Brabbins, André de Ridder
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 19 May 2014
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Henze: Compases; Violin Concerto No.2 etc
Hirofumi Fukai, Brenton Langbein, London Sinfonietta, Hans Werner Henze, Anna Reynolds, John Constable
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin/Porter/Kern Overtures and Film Music
John McGlinn, New Princess Theater Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Faris
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 6 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Copland: Billy The Kid; El Salon México
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman, London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire / Serenade
Mary Thomas, John Shirley-Quirk, London Sinfonietta, David Atherton
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Knussen: Where the Wild Things Are (A Fantasy Opera) - Maurice Sendak
London Sinfonietta, Rosemary Hardy, Mary King
Classical - Released by Arabesque Recordings on 4 Aug 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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NMC Sampler No. 5: New Stock
Jac van Steen, London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Open Score: Contemporary Music for All
London Sinfonietta, Gregory Rose
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 6 May 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky, Poulenc: Choral Works
Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Simon Preston
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harrison Birtwistle: Secret Theatre
London Sinfonietta, Elgar Howarth
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alexander Goehr: Piano Concerto, Op. 33 & Symphony in 1 Movement, Op. 29
London Sinfonietta, Peter Serkin, Oliver Knussen, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bernas
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Feb 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alexander Goehr: Behold the Sun, Op. 44a, Metamorphosis/Dance, Op. 36, Romanza, Op. 24 & Other Works
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, David Atherton, Moray Welsh, London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen, Jeanine Thames
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Nov 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Birtwistle: The Triumph of Time, Ritual Fragment & Gawain's Journey
Philharmonia Orchestra, Elgar Howarth, London Sinfonietta
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Philip Venables: Illusions
David Hoyle, London Sinfonietta, Richard Baker
Chamber Music - Released by NMC Recordings on 15 Jun 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
London Sinfonietta Conducted by Edmon Colomer
London Sinfonietta, Edmon Colomer
Chamber Music - Released by Ensayo on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Matthews: Fourth Sonata For Orchestra ; Suns Dance For 10 Players; Broken Symmetry For Orchestra
London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Signals
John Wallace, London Sinfonietta, Ravinia Trio
Classical - Released by Largo on 11 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo