Ulster Orchestra
Based in Belfast, the Ulster Orchestra performs across Northern Ireland and beyond, including in the Republic of Ireland. The only professional symphony orchestra in Northern Ireland, the group has a large recording catalog, comprising more than 40 albums as of the early 2020s.
The Ulster Orchestra was founded in 1966 by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Its immediate predecessor was the semi-professional City of Belfast Symphony Orchestra, which was disbanded at that time. The orchestra's first conductor was Maurice Miles, who served for a single year; he was replaced by Sergiu Comissiona, who conducted the orchestra from 1967 to 1969 and was the first of its many conductors to hail from beyond Northern Ireland and beyond Britain. Comissiona was succeeded by Edgar Cosma, Alun Francis, and Bryden Thomson; the latter oversaw a substantial expansion of the group as the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra disbanded in 1981, and many of its players moved to the Ulster Orchestra. The group now has 63 full-time players, and despite some funding crises, it has remained stable thanks to support from the Arts Council and the city of Belfast. Concerts are held mostly at Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall in Belfast. In 1990, the orchestra released the album Shaun Davey: The Relief of Derry Symphony on the Tara label. The following year, the group began a long association with the Chandos label, issuing Stanford: Irish Rhapsodies, Clarinet Concerto.
The Ulster Orchestra has had many music directors, typically retaining them for periods of just a few years. Thomson's successors included Vernon Handley (1985-1989), who was later named conductor laureate, Yan Pascal Tortelier (1989-1992), En Shao (1992-1995), JoAnn Falletta (2011-2014), the group's first female and first American conductor, and Daniele Rustioni (2019-). The orchestra has a strong commitment to contemporary music and has employed Brian Irvine and Ian Wilson as Associate Composers. The Ulster Orchestra is often heard live on the BBC 3 network and is noted for its educational and outreach programs in the Belfast community. The group's recordings are notable for their variety, extending from crossover releases of classical favorites to thorny contemporary works. The orchestra has made numerous recordings for Chandos, Naxos, Hyperion (where it has been heard on several installments of the label's Classical Piano Concerto and Romantic Piano Concerto series), and Somm, where it was heard on a 2022 recording of Kurt Weill's little-recorded Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 2.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Debussy: La Boîte à Jouxjoux - Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye
Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra, Christopher Blake, Colin Stark, Michael McGuffin, Louise Martin
Classica - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 apr 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Khamma, Jeux - Ravel: La Valse, Bolero
Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 mag 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stanford: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Concert Variations on an English Theme
Vernon Handley, Ulster Orchestra, Margaret Fingerhut
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 set 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy & Ravel: Orchestral Works
Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra, Christopher Blake
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 gen 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Les Biches, Ibert: Divertissement - Milhaud: Le Bœuf sur le Toit & La Création du Monde
Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 feb 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BAX, A.: Symphony No. 4 / Tintagel (Ulster Orchestra, B. Thomson)
Ulster Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Classica - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 dic 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto pour violoncelle - Sérénade
Guy Johnston, Rebekah Coffey, Ulster Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 1 apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Glass: Works for Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos Special Projects - France il 1 apr 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suites Nos. 1 and 2 / Hamlet and Ophelia
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 19 feb 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Passacaglia / Symphony / Five Pieces
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 1 gen 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In the Mountain Country
Ulster Orchestra, Benjamin Frith, JoAnn Falletta
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 6 gen 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tabula Rasa / Symphony No. 3
Lesley Hatfield, Rebecca Hirsch, Ulster Orchestra, Takuo Yuasa
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 16 gen 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moeran: Orchestral Works
Vernon Handley, Norman Del Mar, Ulster Orchestra, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Lydia Mordkovitch, Raphael Wallfisch
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 gen 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moeran: Serenade in G, Nocturne - Warlock: Serenade, Capriol Suite
Vernon Handley, Ulster Orchestra, Hugh Mackey, Renaissance Singers
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 set 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
If This Is The End
Ryan McMullan, Ulster Orchestra, Paul Campbell
Rock - Pubblicato da Ryan McMullan il 27 nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 7 en ré mineur - Rhapsodie irlandaise n° 3 - Pièce de concert pour orgue & orchestre
Ulster Orchestra, Raphael Wallfisch, Gillian Weir, Vernon Handley
Musica sinfonica - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 giu 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphony No. 4 & Tintagel
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 dic 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Delius & Ireland: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 39)
Piers Lane, Ulster Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones
Classica - Pubblicato da Hyperion il 3 gen 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto pour violon
Ulster Orchestra, Adèle Anthony, Takuo Yuasa
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 1 apr 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poèmes - Pélléas et Mélisande & Pavane
Linda Finnie, Renaissance Singers, Ulster Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier
Musica vocale (sacra e profana) - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 ago 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Herbert: Cello Concertos Nos. 1, 2, & Irish Rhapsody
Mark Kosower, Ulster Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 1 apr 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo