Seventy-eight years after Sir Thomas Beecham founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage. Following Beecham, the Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passed from one illustrious musician to another, amongst them Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur.
As the Orchestra celebrated its 75th birthday in 2007, Vladimir Jurowski became the Orchestra’s twelfth Principal Conductor. Combining a prodigious talent for conducting with a distinctive flair for imaginative programming, Jurowski has introduced audiences to works by Hartmann, Kancheli, Korngold, Myaskovsky, Pintscher, Torsten Rasch, Turnage and Yusupov and led illuminating accounts of the standard classics. Following in-depth analysis of the music of Tchaikovsky, Schnittke and Mahler in previous seasons, in January 2012 he turned his attention to the works of Prokofiev.
This performance was a reminder that under Jurowski the LPO has become a fabulously refined instrument.
Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph, 27 July 2011
In 2008 the Orchestra was delighted to welcome Yannick Nézet-Séguin as its new Principal Guest Conductor. Julian Anderson became the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence in 2010.
The slow movement’s cor anglais solos were beautifully shaped, leading to the delicately scored outpouring at the heart of this work and contrasting with the thicker textures of the finale, which Nézet-Séguin drove towards a thrilling close. As the LPO’s principal guest conductor, he has surely done nothing finer.’
John Allison, The Sunday Telegraph, 30 January 2011
The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It also has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. In summer, it plays for Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.
The Orchestra performs to enthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Russia and in 1973 it made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Tours in 2011/12 include visits to Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the US, Spain, China, Russia, Oman, Brazil and France.
Having long been embraced by the recording, broadcasting and film industries, the London Philharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domestic and international television and radio. It also works with the Hollywood and UK film industries, recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures including the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its first recordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after its first public performance. It has recorded regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its own record label. The recordings are also widely available to download.
Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for the latest releases.
The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners through its rich programme of community and school-based activity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, which includes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, its Foyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme for outstanding young instrumentalists, and regular family and schools concerts.
Jurowski aimed for, and achieved, a performance of colossal proportions.
Erica Jean, The Guardian, 30 May 2011
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