Philharmonia Orchestra
London's Philharmonia Orchestra is generally considered one of Britain's top symphonic ensembles and has sometimes been named as the very best. Formed by recording executive Walter Legge at the end of World War II, the orchestra benefited from the presence of several top Continental conductors in its first years and has generated an impressive recording catalog from the very beginning. Although London already boasted the world-class London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestras, Legge resolved to create an ensemble that would equal the best in the German-speaking musical sphere. To this end, he recruited top young musicians (some 60 percent of the players were still serving in the British armed forces at the beginning) and, after he was turned down by friend Thomas Beecham, a roster of star German conductors. These included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Richard Strauss, Herbert von Karajan, and Otto Klemperer. At first, Legge avoided the appointment of a permanent conductor, and the players learned to produce superb results under several different kinds of artistic leadership.
Primarily a recording ensemble at first, the Philharmonia began giving concerts that were often innovative in content. The young Leonard Bernstein recorded Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major with the group, and the orchestra gave the world premiere of Strauss' Four Last Songs with soloist Kirsten Flagstad in 1950 at the Royal Albert Hall. In the mid-'50s, Furtwängler died and Karajan departed for Berlin; Legge appointed the 74-year-old Klemperer conductor for life. Klemperer's performances were often idiosyncratic but just as often brilliant, and many of his recordings with the Philharmonia remain in print. A complete cycle of Brahms symphonies under Klemperer was reissued by the firm Broken Audio in the 2010s.
The orchestra ran into trouble in the early 1960s as financial problems arose and several of its best musicians, including hornist Dennis Brain, met untimely deaths. Legge attempted to disband the group in 1964, but the players, encouraged by Klemperer, formed the New Philharmonia Orchestra and continued to perform. The orchestra performed at the Beethoven bicentennial in Bonn, West Germany, in 1970. That year, Lorin Maazel was appointed associate principal conductor to reduce the workload of the aging Klemperer, but he clashed with the orchestra members, who had maintained a self-governing structure. Instead, Riccardo Muti was appointed chief conductor in 1973. Four years later, the original name was restored.
Under Muti, the orchestra often recorded opera and entered upon what was widely regarded as a second golden age. In 1981, under conductor Kurt Sanderling, the Philharmonia made the first digital recording of Beethoven's complete symphonies. Muti was succeeded in 1984 by Giuseppe Sinopoli, whose performances of key British repertory such as the works of Elgar were criticized, but who extended the orchestra's reach in Italian opera. Christoph von Dohnányi ascended the podium in 1997 and took the orchestra on tours of continental Europe and, in 2002 and 2003, to a residency in New York. Bicontinental Finnish conducting star Esa-Pekka Salonen became chief conductor in 2008 and has continued to maintain the orchestra's high standards; his departure was announced for the year 2021, creating an opening at the very top level of English music-making. The Philharmonia continued to record for EMI after Legge's departure but moved to Deutsche Grammophon under Sinopoli and has since recorded for a large variety of labels. In 2019, the Philharmonia backed innovative Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen on her debut release, with Salonen conducting.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Santtu Conducts Strauss
Philharmonia Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum Records am 24.03.2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Requiem op.48 · Pavane op.50 · Elégie op.24 · Après un Rêve op.7
Kathleen Battle, Andreas Schmidt, Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Respighi, Rossini: La boutique fantasque - Dukas: L'apprenti sorcier
Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 11.03.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: La Mer, Le Martyre de saint Sébastien
Philharmonia Orchestra, Pablo Heras-Casado
Symphonien - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 22.06.2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major - Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Minor (Mono Version)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Philharmonia Orchestra, Ettore Gracis
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.1; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Tannhäuser
Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Guilty Pleasures
Renée Fleming, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sebastian Lang-Lessing
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 17.09.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances, Symphony No. 3 (Live)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum Records am 14.09.2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphonie No. 4, Op. 90 - Schumann: Symphonie No. 4, Op. 120 (Stereo Version)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel & Rachmaninoff: Concertos pour piano (Stereo Version)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Philharmonia Orchestra, Ettore Gracis
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn & Bruch : Violin Concertos
Gil Shaham, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Firebird (The) / Petrushka (Stravinsky, Vol. 2)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Naxos am 01.03.2005
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler 9
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum Classics am 05.05.2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Double Concerto, Op. 102 - Beethoven: Violin Sonata, Op. 12 No. 1
Christian Ferras, Paul Tortelier, Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Kletzki
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 24.04.2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Triple Concerto in C Major, Op. 56 - Johannes Brahms: Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102
Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Alceo Galliera
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Jube Classic am 27.01.2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Weill: Suite from the Threepenny Opera - Klemperer: Merry Waltz
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 13.03.2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 6
Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum Records am 29.07.2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Philharmonia Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 05.11.2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Concerto;Viotti: Violin Concerto No.22
Arthur Grumiaux, Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Edo de Waart
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Borodin: Requiem, Polovtsian Dances and Suite from Prince Igor
BBC Symphony Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum-Cala am 18.09.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo