Howard Griffiths
Conductor Howard Griffiths has an exceptionally long record of guest appearances with orchestras around Europe. He has made more than 100 recordings as a guest and as the long-term leader of Switzerland's Zürcher Kammerorchester and the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester in Germany.
Griffiths was born in Hastings on the south coast of England on February 24, 1950. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London. Griffiths moved to Switzerland in 1981 and has lived there ever since; his personal website is exclusively in the German language. He retained ties in Britain, however, and after performing with the English Chamber Orchestra for the first time in 1993 (in London's Barbican Hall), he appeared regularly with that group. He was the principal guest conductor of the Oxford Orchestra da Camera from 1994 to 1997. Griffiths made his recording debut with the English Chamber Orchestra on the Novalis label in 1991, issuing an album of works by the little-known Classical-period composers J.F.X.D. Stalder and Constantin Reindl. He has continued to cultivate a specialty in the music of lesser-known composers. He also frequently appeared with England's Royal Northern Sinfonia.
Griffiths served as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Zürcher Kammerorchester ("Zurich Chamber Orchestra") from 1996 to 2006, and as chief conductor of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester ("Brandenburg State Orchestra") in Frankfurt, Germany, from 2007 to 2018. With the Zürcher Kammerorchester, he toured as far afield as Eastern Europe, Turkey, and East Asia. His career has been marked by guest appearances with an unusually wide variety of orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic in London, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Orquesta Nacional de España, and the Polish Chamber Orchestra. In performance, he has appeared with such major stars as trumpeter Maurice André, soprano Kathleen Battle, violinist Joshua Bell, and historical pianist Rudolf Buchbinder.
In addition to the neglected repertory of the 18th and 19th centuries, Griffiths has various other specialties, including contemporary music, Swiss music, and Turkish music. He has worked with top contemporary composers such as Hans Werner Henze (giving the Swiss premiere of that composer's Requiem in Henze's presence), George Crumb, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Arvo Pärt. Griffiths' recording catalog is vast and includes albums with many of the orchestras he has worked with over his long career. He has recorded for the CPO, Koch Schwann, Profil, and Sony Classical labels, among others; his recordings of unknown Classical-era and Romantic symphonic repertory have mostly been made for CPO but have involved various orchestras. Griffiths remained active through the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing ten albums between 2020 and 2023, including several recordings of Mozart piano concertos with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg (and various pianists) on the Alpha label. In 2024, Griffiths returned on CPO with an album of viola concertos by C.P.E. Bach and Johann Gottlieb Graun, featuring violist Mathis Rochat and the Camerata Schweiz chamber orchestra.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Ries: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5
Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Howard Griffiths
Symphonic Music - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holbrooke : Symphony No. 3 & Symphonic Poems
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by CPO on Jun 7, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pleyel: Symphonies, B. 126 and 140 / Symphonie Concertante, B. 115
Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Jakub Dzialak, Howard Griffiths, Riccardo Bovino
Classical - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebrun, L.A.: Oboe Concerto No. 7 / Holzbauer, I.: Oboe Concerto in D Minor / Winter, P.: Oboe Concerto No. 2
Kurt Meier, Northern Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths
Concertos - Released by Pan Classics on Jan 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saygun: Cello Concerto, Viola Concerto
Tim Hugh, Mirjam Tschopp, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ries: Symphonies, Nos. 7 and 8
Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Howard Griffiths
Symphonic Music - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, W.A.: Piano Concerto No. 20
Michael Rische, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by Profil on Mar 31, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tansman: Piano Concertino - Stele in memoriam Igor Stravinsky - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Christian Seibert, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths
Concertos - Released by CPO on May 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schoeck: Erwin und Elmire, Op. 25
Zürcher Kammerorchester, Mareike Schellenberger, Hans Christoph Begemann, Tino Brutsch, Howard Griffiths, Jeannette Fischer
Classical - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saens: Le carnival des animaux (For 2 Pianos)
Ferhan Önder, Ferzan Önder, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by Christophorus on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: Symphonies 3 & 4
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths, Johannes Brahms
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on Apr 8, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saygun: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Gulsin Onay, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by CPO on Oct 28, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach in Brandenburg
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on Jan 21, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto in Modo Misolidio / Concerto a Cinque
Konstantin Scherbakov, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Howard Griffiths, Ewald Danel
Classical - Released by Naxos on Feb 23, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lyric Concerto
Suna Kan, Northern Sinfonia Of England, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ahmed Adnan Saygun: Ritual Dance, Op. 57
Howard Griffiths, Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Prospero Classical on Mar 1, 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Krommer: Works for Clarinet and Orchestra
Dimitri Ashkenazy, Northern Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by paladino music on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Howard Griffiths: Ohne Sorgen - Happy go lucky
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Istanbul Oriental Ensemble, Giulietta Koch, Burhan Ocal, Howard Griffiths
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on Oct 30, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: Symphonies 1 & 2
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths, Johannes Brahms
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on Jul 10, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Die Hexe und der Maestro - Eine märchenhafte Orchestergeschichte von Howard Griffiths
Children - Released by Hug & Co. Musikverlage. Pelca Tonträger on Jun 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante KV 364, Rondos KV 382 & 386 & Horn Concerto No. 2 KV 417
Johan Dalene, Eivind Ringstad, Ariel Lanyi, Alexandre Zanetta, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Howard Griffiths
Classical - To be released on Jun 7, 2024 by Alpha Classics
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo