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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Holst: The Planets
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Neville Creed
Classica - Pubblicato da London Philharmonic Orchestra il 26 ott 2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Offenbach: La Princesse de Trébizonde
Paul Daniel, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Opera - Pubblicato da Opera Rara il 22 set 2023
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar
Nicola Benedetti, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 15 mag 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven - Wagner - Verdi
Lise Davidsen, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 26 mar 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal Suite (Constr. A. Gourlay)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Gourlay
Classica - Pubblicato da Orchid Classics il 4 nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Aranjuez (Joaquin Rodrigo, Manuel de Falla)
Miloš Karadaglić, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Classica - Pubblicato da Mercury Classics il 17 feb 2014
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A-Flat Major, Op. 55 & Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 63
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classica - Pubblicato da Lyrita il 1 apr 2007
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
British Symphonies
Classica - Pubblicato da Lyrita il 9 set 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spatial Audio - The 3D Classical Collection
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ben Gernon
Classica - Pubblicato da Warner Classics il 9 lug 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, W.A.: Violin Concertos No.1 - 5; Sinfonia Concertante
Anne-Sophie Mutter, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 1 gen 2005
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music
David Parry, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da X5 Music Group il 1 dic 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage (Live)
Edward Gardner, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Opera Chorus
Opera - Pubblicato da London Philharmonic Orchestra il 23 set 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Moeran: Sinfonietta, Symphony in G Minor & Overture for a Masque
London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classica - Pubblicato da Lyrita il 1 feb 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jurowski conducts Stravinsky, Vol. 2 (Live)
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da London Philharmonic Orchestra il 28 apr 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Anna Clyne: DANCE - Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto
Inbal Segev, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da AVIE Records il 5 giu 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Infinite Bach
Christian Svarfvar, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Johan Ullen
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da RUBICON il 19 nov 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Greatest Video Game Music 2
Classica - Pubblicato da X5 Music Group il 6 nov 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 – Medtner: Piano Concerto No. 2
Marc-André Hamelin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 31 mar 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Symphonic Poems
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Sir Georg Solti
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boult Conducts Bax
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classica - Pubblicato da Lyrita il 1 nov 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boult Conducts Coates
New Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classica - Pubblicato da Lyrita il 1 gen 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo