"Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), based in London, was formed by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagements including the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the concerts of the Royal Philharmonic Society. After Beecham's death in 1961 the orchestra's fortunes declined steeply; it battled for survival until the mid-1960s, when its future was secured after an Arts Council report recommended that it should receive public subsidy; a further crisis arose in the same era when it seemed that the orchestra's right to call itself ""Royal"" could be"
"Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini; of the Philharmonia's younger conductors, the most important to its development was Herbert von Karajan, who though never formally chief conductor was closely associated with the orchestra in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Philharmonia became widely regarded as the finest of London's five symphony orchestras in its first two decades. From"
"National Philharmonic Orchestra The National Philharmonic Orchestra was a British orchestra created exclusively for recording purposes. It was founded by RCA Records producer and conductor Charles Gerhardt and orchestra leader and contractor Sidney Sax. The orchestra was created partly due to the requirements of an extensive recording project for the ""Reader's Digest"". Before settling on this name, the orchestra began operation in 1964 using a variety of names including RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra and the London Promenade (the latter consisting largely of London Philharmonic Orchestra personnel). It was incorporated as the National Philharmonic Orchestra in 1971 by Sidney Sax. Musicians"
"Philharmonia Chorus The Philharmonia Chorus is an independent self-governing symphony chorus based in London, UK. The Acting Chorus Master is Gavin Carr. The Philharmonia Chorus was founded in 1957 by Walter Legge as a choral counterpart to the Philharmonia Orchestra which he had founded twelve years earlier. The Chorus’s first concert, a performance on 12 November 1957 of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, completed a cycle of Beethoven symphonies in London’s Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer and was recorded with the same performers. To create his chorus, Legge turned to Wilhelm Pitz, then chorus master of"
"the recording studios, making film soundtracks and numerous gramophone recordings; many of the LP recordings conducted by Beecham and others have been reissued on compact disc. In 1932 the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham had founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), which, with the backing of rich supporters, he ran until 1940, when finances dried up in wartime. Beecham left to conduct in Australia and then the US; the orchestra continued without him after reorganising itself as a self-governing body. On Beecham's return to England in September 1944 the LPO welcomed him back, and in October they gave a concert together"
"Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby"" (1946); ""Hamlet"", ""Oliver Twist"" and ""Scott of the Antarctic"" (1948); ""Kind Hearts and Coronets"" and ""Passport to Pimlico"" (1949); ""The Cruel Sea"" (1953); ""Battle of the Bulge"" (1965); "" Lady Caroline Lamb"" (1972); ""King David"" (1985); ""The King and I"" (1999); ""Great Expectations"" (2012); and ""The Lady in the Van"" (2015). Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler and"
"""The Lawnmower Man"", ""Stargate"", ""Tombstone"", ""RoboCop"" and ""Young Sherlock Holmes"". Sinfonia of London The Sinfonia of London is the name of two distinct session orchestras based in London, England. The original ensemble of this name was founded in 1955 by Gordon Walker, an eminent flautist of his time, specifically for the recording of film music. The orchestra came into being when there was a split in the future direction of the London Symphony Orchestra, many LSO players leaving to join the Sinfonia of London in order to undertake the more lucrative film soundtrack work. The orchestra appeared in the musical"
"London Philharmonic Choir The London Philharmonic Choir (LPC) is one of the leading independent British choirs in the United Kingdom based in London. The Patron is Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy and Sir Mark Elder is President. The choir, comprising more than 200 members, holds charitable status and is governed by a committee of 6 elected directors. As a charity, its aims are to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts. The LPC was formed in 1946 with Frederic Jackson as Chorus Master, for"
"as Sir Henry J. Wood's Symphony Orchestra. In 1927, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under its conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, gave two concerts at the Queen's Hall. These, and later concerts by the same orchestra in 1928 and 1929, made obvious the comparatively poor standards of London orchestras. Both the BBC and Sir Thomas Beecham had ambitions to bring London's orchestral standards up to those of Berlin. After an early attempt at co-operation between the BBC and Beecham, they went their separate ways; the BBC established the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Adrian Boult, and Beecham, together with Malcolm Sargent, founded the London"
"proposal to set up a permanent, salaried orchestra with a subsidy guaranteed by Sargent's patrons, the Courtauld family. Originally Sargent and Beecham envisaged a reshuffled version of the London Symphony Orchestra, but the LSO, a self-governing co-operative, balked at weeding out and replacing underperforming players. In 1932 Beecham lost patience and agreed with Sargent to set up a new orchestra from scratch. The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), as it was named, consisted of 106 players including a few young musicians straight from music college, many established players from provincial orchestras, and 17 of the LSO's leading members. The principals included"
"1966 Leonard Bernstein conducted the LSO for the first time, in Mahler's ""Symphony of a Thousand"" at the Royal Albert Hall. This was another coup for Fleischmann, who had to overcome Bernstein's scorn for the inadequate rehearsal facilities endured by London orchestras. Bernstein remained associated with the LSO for the rest of his life, and was its president from 1987 to 1990. Mindful of the enormous success of the Philharmonia Chorus, founded in 1957 by Legge to work with his Philharmonia Orchestra, the LSO decided to establish its own chorus. The LSO Chorus (later called the London Symphony Chorus) was"
"Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra The Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra is a non-professional orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The orchestra was founded by Ernest Powell in 1941, when a group of musicians gathered to perform Handel's Messiah. The group carried on and grew to become the South Birmingham Orchestra, performing concerts to support wartime charities. By 1946, David Ludlow had become the orchestra's conductor, and the present name was adopted in 1949. Kenneth Page, the longest-serving conductor of the BPO to date, took charge from 1959 after David Ludlow's death. From this point the repertoire became more adventurous and ambitious, with performing standards"
"Sinfonia of London The Sinfonia of London is the name of two distinct session orchestras based in London, England. The original ensemble of this name was founded in 1955 by Gordon Walker, an eminent flautist of his time, specifically for the recording of film music. The orchestra came into being when there was a split in the future direction of the London Symphony Orchestra, many LSO players leaving to join the Sinfonia of London in order to undertake the more lucrative film soundtrack work. The orchestra appeared in the musical credits of many British and American films of the 1950s"
"Sidney Sax Sidney Sax (1913–2005) was a leading violinist in London's session musician circles. In addition to being an eminent and influential orchestral leader he was also contractor, 'fixing' the personnel for recording sessions. In 1964 he was the joint founder of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, London together with Charles Gerhardt. The National Philharmonic Orchestra, which was later incorporated in 1970, was a freelance orchestra that boasted amongst its players some of the leading musicians from all the London orchestras. It was not unusual to find that Sax had contracted the leaders of most of London's orchestras to populate his"
"the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in a family of musicians in Sofia, Ivan Yanakov moved to New York to pursue his musical studies. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Mannes College of Music and spent 10 years in New York, where he performed extensively in chamber music and recitals and was awarded the Artists International Debut Series Prize at Carnegie Hall. He moved to Paris and later to London, where he founded the London Chamber Players, a chamber orchestra composed of young professionals with a home season at Saint-Giles-in-the-Fields, in Central London. As a conductor, Ivan Yanakov"
"London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), founded in 1904, is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. It was set up by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services. The LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset the LSO was organised on co-operative lines, with all players sharing the profits at the end of each season. This practice continued for the orchestra's first four decades. The LSO underwent periods of eclipse in the 1930s and"
"Modern Symphony Orchestra The Modern Symphony Orchestra (sometimes called the ""Northern Polytechnic Modern Symphony Orchestra"") was a London amateur orchestra that existed from 1931 to 1983. The Modern Symphony Orchestra was founded by Arthur Dennington, who led several smaller orchestral amateur ensembles in Northern London at that time and combined them in 1931 into a symphony orchestra. The name ""Modern Symphony Orchestra"" derived from the fact that the orchestra wanted to play ""modern"" music by contemporary and little known composers, and allow young soloists to perform with the orchestra. The orchestra's first concert hall was Islington Town Hall. But owing"
"baulked at weeding out and replacing underperforming players. In 1932 Beecham lost patience and agreed with Sargent to set up a new orchestra from scratch. The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), as it was named, consisted of 106 players including a few young musicians straight from music college, many established players from provincial orchestras, and 17 of the LSO's leading members. To try to raise its own standards the LSO had engaged Mengelberg, a famous orchestral trainer, known as a perfectionist. He made it a precondition that the deputy system must be abandoned, which occurred in 1929. He conducted the orchestra"
"became the third President of the choir. London Philharmonic Choir The London Philharmonic Choir (LPC) is one of the leading independent British choirs in the United Kingdom based in London. The Patron is Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy and Sir Mark Elder is President. The choir, comprising more than 200 members, holds charitable status and is governed by a committee of 6 elected directors. As a charity, its aims are to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts. The LPC was formed in 1946"
"Legge founded the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1945, Beecham conducted its first concert. But he was not disposed to accept a salaried position from Legge, his former assistant, any more than from his former players in the LPO. In 1946, Beecham founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), securing an agreement with the Royal Philharmonic Society that the new orchestra should replace the LPO at all the Society's concerts. Beecham later agreed with the Glyndebourne Festival that the RPO should be the resident orchestra at Glyndebourne each summer. He secured backing, including that of record companies in the US as well as"
"London Schools Symphony Orchestra The London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO) is a symphony orchestra with musicians drawn from students in London schools, and featuring professional conductors and soloists. It was founded in 1951. Its founder and original director was the late Dr Leslie Russell, at one time assisted by Niso Ticciati. From 1990 until 2001 the artistic director was Oliver Butterworth. The current artistic director is American conductor/composer Peter Ash. The orchestra gives three concerts annually in the Barbican, in January, April and September which are preceded by intense eight-day rehearsal periods during the school holidays. The LSSO is often"
"Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra (, ), abbreviated to OPL, is a symphony orchestra based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The orchestra formerly performed at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Conservatoire de Luxembourg. Its current home is the Philharmonie Luxembourg, a large concert hall opened in 2005 in the Kirchberg quarter in the northeast of the city. The orchestra was founded in 1933 as the in-house orchestra of RTL Radio, named the ""RTL Grand Symphony Orchestra"" (); Henri Pensis was its founder and first music director. After his initial tenure from 1933 to 1939,"
"and a professional leader is usually engaged. Strong links are maintained with the Birmingham Conservatoire, where the orchestra performs, and with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra The Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra is a non-professional orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The orchestra was founded by Ernest Powell in 1941, when a group of musicians gathered to perform Handel's Messiah. The group carried on and grew to become the South Birmingham Orchestra, performing concerts to support wartime charities. By 1946, David Ludlow had become the orchestra's conductor, and the present name was adopted in 1949. Kenneth Page, the longest-serving"
"BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The BBC SO is the principal orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The orchestra was originally conceived in 1928 as a joint enterprise by the BBC and the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, but the latter withdrew the next year; and the task of assembling and training the orchestra fell to the BBC's director of music,"
"David Atherton David Atherton (born 3 January 1944) is an English conductor and co-founder of the London Sinfonietta. Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire into a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School. His father, Robert Atherton, was the Music Master at St Joseph's College, Blackpool and was also a conductor. His mother was a singer. Atherton studied music at Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge. In 1967 Atherton was co-founder of the London Sinfonietta and, as its Music Director, a position he held until 1973, gave the first performance of many important contemporary works. It is"
"war. At the Philharmonia Orchestra's first concert on 25 October 1945, more than sixty per cent of the players were still officially in the services. Beecham conducted the concert (for the fee of one cigar), but as he refused to be Legge's employee and Legge refused to cede control of the orchestra, they went their separate ways. Beecham founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) the following year. Unlike the existing London orchestras, but like Beecham's Royal Philharmonic, the early Philharmonia was not a permanent ensemble: it was convened ""ad hoc"" from available players on Legge's list. Several of those players"
"scores, including ""Superman"" (1978) and ""Raiders of the Lost Ark"" (1981). Notes References London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), founded in 1904, is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. It was set up by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services. The LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset the LSO was organised on co-operative lines, with all players sharing the profits at the end of each season. This practice continued for the orchestra's"
"Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH</small> (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor. Born to a rich industrial family, Beecham began his career as a conductor in 1899. He used his access to the family fortune to finance opera"
"which plays lighter classics. It succeeded a similar group, the Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra. RPO players have been involved with many performances away from the classical repertory; in the 1960s they pioneered the ""mixed media"" concert, appearing with The Nice rock band. Later non-classical ventures included ""Yanni Live at the Acropolis"", a concert held in Greece in 1993, conducted by Shahrdad Rohani; In 1992 UEFA commissioned the orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields chorus to record the UEFA Champions League Hymn. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), based in London, was formed by Sir"
"emigrated to Australia. Sax also directed a larger broadcasting combination called the Sidney Sax strings. Sidney Sax also contracted by Roy Budd for his orchestra to record several (unidentified at this stage) films with music scores by Roy Budd. Sidney Sax Sidney Sax (1913–2005) was a leading violinist in London's session musician circles. In addition to being an eminent and influential orchestral leader he was also contractor, 'fixing' the personnel for recording sessions. In 1964 he was the joint founder of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, London together with Charles Gerhardt. The National Philharmonic Orchestra, which was later incorporated in 1970,"
"Stephen Gray (musical administrator) Philip Stephen Gray OBE (11 March 1923 – 30 November 2012) was an English musical administrator, who managed the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for 23 years. In 1950, together with David Cairns, Gray established the Chelsea Opera Group. This was an organisation that produced concert performances of operas rather than staged productions because they were less expensive for the audiences. For their first performance they persuaded Colin Davis, at the time a 22-year-old clarinetist, to conduct a concert performance of Mozart’s ""Don Giovanni"" in the Holywell Music Room, Oxford. Gray played in the orchestra, and Cairns"
"Łódź Philharmonic The Łódź Philharmonic () is a professional symphony orchestra based in Łódź, Poland. It was founded in 1915 by composer and conductor Tadeusz Mazurkiewicz and Gotliba Teschnera, a cello instructor and bookstore owner. The men organized the orchestra initially as a temporary ensemble to play for a benefit for impoverished musicians. The orchestra was made up of approximately 60 musicians, both professional and amateur. The enthusiastic reception of this benefit concert drew the patronage of industrialist Karol Wilhelm Scheilbler, who provided the finances necessary to make the orchestra a permanent ensemble. Mazurkiewicz was appointed the orchestra's first director."
"has held the position of Principal Second Violin with the London Sinfonietta since 1970. His eldest daughter Elizabeth is an opera singer. David Atherton David Atherton (born 3 January 1944) is an English conductor and co-founder of the London Sinfonietta. Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire into a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School. His father, Robert Atherton, was the Music Master at St Joseph's College, Blackpool and was also a conductor. His mother was a singer. Atherton studied music at Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge. In 1967 Atherton was co-founder of the London Sinfonietta"