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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Handel: The Water Music
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Jun 19, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Apr 28, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Jan 22, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham)
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Jan 22, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: L'arlésienne Suites 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Jan 15, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral"
Symphonic Music - Released by Past Classics on Jul 9, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold: 4 Scottish Dances & Symphony No. 3 (Transferred from the Original Everest Records Master Tapes)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Arnold
Classical - Released by Everest on Oct 6, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6, Op. 54 (Transferred from the Original Everest Records Master Tapes)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Everest on Oct 6, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Memorial Tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 9 (Transferred from the Original Everest Records Master Tapes)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Everest on Oct 6, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kodály: Psalmus Hungaricus - Bartók: Dance Suite (Transferred from the Original Everest Records Master Tapes)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, János Ferencsik
Classical - Released by Everest on Jan 1, 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Beecham Collection: Handel & Beecham
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Betty Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Feb 1, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
McEwen: Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity
Janice Watson, Brighton Festival Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alasdair Mitchell
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Chandos on Oct 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gould, M.: American Ballads / Spirituals / Symphonette No. 2 / American Salute
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Kenneth Klein
Classical - Released by Albany on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sounds Of Glory
London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Planet Blue Records USA on Jan 1, 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kodály: Psalmus Hungaricus - Bartók: Dance Suite
London Philharmonic Orchestra, János Ferencsik
Classical - Released by Everest Records on Jul 29, 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victor de Sabata: Orchestral Music
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Aldo Ceccato
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Apr 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on Jun 28, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of England, Vol. 1
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on Jun 10, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphony No.40 in G Minor K. 550
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alfred Scholz
Classical - Released by Red Note OMP on May 17, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Carole Farley sings Grieg
Classical - Released by Legend Classics on Apr 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Conductor's Gallery, Vol. 16: Eduard van Beinum
Eugenia Jareska, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Aug 25, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo