Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
The Slovak Philharmonic (in Slovak, Slovenská filharmónia) is one of the youngest among Europe's great symphonic ensembles, yet it has gained international renown in the 1990s and early 2000s. The orchestra has recorded extensively and has attracted top-notch international collaborators. The Slovak Philharmonic was founded in Bratislava, then part of Czechoslovakia, in 1949. Its first conductor, Vaclav Talich, and first music director, Ludovit Ratjer, were key figures in the orchestra's formation and emergence. In the 1950s, the orchestra began giving concerts in the handsome 1773 Reduta Bratislava concert hall, which has remained its home base. After Rajter stepped down as conductor in 1976, the orchestra had several other highly regarded conductors including Ladislav Slovak (until 1981), Libor Pesek, and, in 1990 and 1991, Aldo Ceccato, its first conductor from outside Czechoslovak lands. After Slovakia split peacefully from the Czech Republic in 1993, the Slovak Philharmonic went from being a strong orchestra in a country with many of them to something of a national flagship, and it increasingly attracted foreign conductors and instrumental collaborators as guests. Among the former group have been Claudio Abbado, Sergiu Celibidache, and Mariss Jansons. The permanent conductorship, however, remained mostly in Slovak and Czech hands; the renowned Jiří Bělohlávek served a term in the 2003-2004 season. That changed with the appointment of France's Emmanuel Villaume in 2009; he remained in the job until 2016, when he was succeeded by Britain's James Judd, a former conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the founder of the Miami Music Project. The orchestra has also been led in recent years by its permanent guest conductors, Leos Svarovsky (until 2018), Rastislav Stur, and Petr Altrichter. The orchestra has a large collection of recordings, most of them on the Naxos, Zebralution, and Denon labels; on Naxos the group released a recording of symphonic poems from Bedřich Smetana's Swedish period.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker & Swan Lake Suites
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Halasz
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Aug 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ballet Music - 50 of the Best
Classical - Released by Naxos Special Projects on 1 Aug 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic for You: Träumerei
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohdan Warchal
Classical - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 24 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 "Organ Symphony"- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 7
Classical - Released by Digital Masterworks on 4 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
Seattle Symphony, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz, Zdenek Kosler
Classical - Released by Unclassified on 9 Jun 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Music at the Movies: Sci-Fi, Thrillers & Suspense
Cinema Music - Released by Naxos Special Projects on 15 May 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner, R.: Orchestral Highlights From Operas
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Halasz
Classical - Released by Naxos on 6 Oct 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Nussknacker-Suite - Klavierkonzert No. 1
The London Festival Orchestra, Alberto Lizzio, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bystrík Režucha
Symphonic Music - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Russian Fireworks
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Hayman, Kenneth Jean, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Michael Halasz
Classical - Released by Naxos on 15 Mar 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carmen - L'Arlésienne (suites)
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Anthony Bramall
Classical - Released by Naxos on 5 Feb 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 / SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Edlinger, Michael Halasz
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, R.: Also Sprach Zarathustra / Salome's Dance
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Zdenek Kosler
Classical - Released by Naxos on 15 Dec 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana: Swedish Symphonic Poems
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Leos Svarovsky
Classical - Released by Naxos on 11 Jan 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
(MOZART A BEETHOVEN)
Bratislava Chamber Ensemble, Bratislava Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Pierre Verany on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greig's Piano Concerto: Concerto in A Minor for Piano and Orchestra · Suites from "Peer Gynt"
Classical - Released by Inspired Studios on 2 Jan 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 "New World Symphony" (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 9 Jul 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Requiem in D Minor
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Zdenek Kosler, Magdaléna Hajóssyová and Slovenský filharmonický zbor
Classical - Released by SMOOTH CLASSICAL on 21 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beautiful music for bedtime by the world’s greatest composers
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
DVORAK: Slavonic Rhapsodies Op. 45, Nos. 1 - 3
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pešek, Zdenek Kosler
Classical - Released by Naxos on 15 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition / Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Nazareth
Classical - Released by Naxos on 19 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
DELIUS: American Rhapsody / Paa Vidderne / Spring Morning
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, John Hopkins
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 31 Dec 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo