Utah Symphony
The Utah Symphony is one of the major orchestral ensembles of the American West, having established a high standard of performance and a distinctive sound under longtime conductor Maurice Abravanel. The group has had a distinguished recording career, issuing almost 120 albums under Abravanel on the Vanguard and Vox labels.
After the failure of several other attempts to establish a symphony orchestra in Salt Lake City, the Utah State Sinfonietta, founded as a U.S. Works Progress Administration project in 1935, played more than a thousand concerts in the late 1930s, inspiring local business leaders to form a Utah State Symphony Orchestra in 1940 when federal funding was discontinued. The group's first music director was Hans Heniot. In 1946, its name was changed to the Utah Symphony, and the following year, conductor Maurice Abravanel, a student of Bruno Walter, was hired under a one-year contract. He turned down a lucrative offer from Radio City Music Hall in New York and persisted with the orchestra through various funding crises, at times working without pay because he hoped to build a distinctive ensemble of his own. His mission was successful: Utah Symphony albums became linchpins of American record collections in the LP era, and Abravanel-led classics such as the orchestra's recording of the Berlioz's Requiem, Op. 5, have been reissued in digital media. The orchestra recorded complete cycles of the symphonies of Mahler (it was the first orchestra anywhere to do so) and Tchaikovsky. During Abravanel's tenure the orchestra performed in Salt Lake City's Mormon Tabernacle. A new Symphony Hall, renamed Abravanel Hall in 1993, was opened in 1980 and has been noted for its fine acoustics. Abravanel retired in 1979 and was succeeded by Varujan Kojian (1980-1983), Joseph Silverstein (1983-1998), Keith Lockhart (1998-2009), and Thierry Fischer. The orchestra often performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Opera, merging organizationally with the latter group in 2002. Its pace of recordings slowed somewhat, but critically acclaimed Utah Symphony releases have continued to appear. Fischer has championed contemporary music and issued Dawn to Dusk, featuring works by Augusta Read Thomas (whose EOS: Goddess of the Dawn was commissioned by the orchestra), Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman, in 2016. The orchestra's recording of Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ("Organ") appeared in 2019.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Messiaen: Des canyons aux étoiles…
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 7 Apr 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony (No. 3); La foi etc.
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 28 Dec 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Symphonic Dances, Op. 64, Lyric Pieces, Op. 54 & Other Orchestral Works (Remastered 2024)
Utah Symphony, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Vox on 1 Jan 1976
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals; Symphony No. 1; Symphony in A Major
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 29 Nov 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Rêverie et caprice; La mort d'Ophélie & Sara la beigneuse
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 28 Feb 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 2, Danse macabre & Urbs Roma
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 3 May 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 2, Danse macabre & Urbs Roma
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 3 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, TH 30 "Pathétique" & Hamlet, Op. 67, TH 53 (Remastered 2023)
Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony
Classical - Released by Vox on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64, TH 29 & 1812 Overture, Op. 49, TH 49 (Remastered 2023)
Utah Symphony, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Vox on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs Of Inspiration
Kiri Te Kanawa, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Utah Symphony, Julius Rudel
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Complete Symphonies
Utah Symphony, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Musical Concepts on 11 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: A German Requiem, Op. 45 (New English Adaptation by Robert Shaw)
Craig Jessop, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Utah Symphony, Janice Chandler, Nathan Gunn
Classical - Released by Telarc on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen: Des canyons aux étoiles…
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 7 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Song of Thanksgiving
Frederica von Stade, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Utah Symphony, Joseph Silverstein
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 22 Nov 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Historical Mahler, Vol. 8 (Remastered 2023)
Utah Symphony, Maurice Abravanel
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 31 Jan 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals; Symphony No. 1; Symphony in A Major
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 29 Nov 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American 20th Century Composers, Vol. 3
Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony
Classical - Released by Vox on 17 May 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony (No. 3); La foi etc.
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 28 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Rêverie et caprice; La mort d'Ophélie & Sara la beigneuse
Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 28 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
David Carlson: Symphonic Sequences from Dreamkeepers
Classical - Released by New World Records on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Un américain à Paris & Rhapsody in Blue (Mono Version)
Utah Symphony, Maurice Abravanel, Reid Nibley
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo