Awarded Royal title in 1957, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra presents its schedule of concerts under the aegis of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, which offered its first event on March 12, 1840. Alone among Britain's orchestral societies, the R.L.P.S. owns its own concert hall, a 1939 art deco structure designed by Herbert J. Rowse. Over a three-year period beginning in 1992, the R.L.P.S. undertook a more thanRead more ten-million-dollar modernization program to improve both acoustics and support facilities. On the historical list of principal conductors are such names as Max Bruch (who served the orchestra for three years beginning in 1860), Sir Charles Halle, Sir Henry Wood, Sir Malcolm Sargent (beginning with the completion of the hall in 1940), Sir John Pritchard, Sir Charles Groves, Walter Weller, David Atherton, Marek Janowski, and Libor Pesek. Pesek, hired as principal conductor in 1987, was designated music director in 1988. When he resigned in 1997 to devote himself to freelance work, he was made conductor laureate and Peter Altricher was engaged as interim conductor. In February 2000, Gerard Schwarz, music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, was appointed music director of the R.L.P.O. In addition to a full subscription schedule of concerts, the R.L.P.O. presents a Summer Pops series. A second home in Preston offers a sub-series of concerts and the orchestra provides frequent concerts in Birmingham, Blackburn, Carlisle, and Leeds. Overseas tours have enhanced the orchestra's reputation; trips to the Continent, America, and the Far East have reinforced the R.L.P.O.'s status as an important international ensemble. In 1993, it became the first non-Czech orchestra to receive an invitation to open the Prague Spring Festival; a return visit in 1996 was equally successful. In 1989, the R.L.P.S. and R.L.P.O. were awarded an honorary fellowship from the Liverpool John Moores University. Further honors included Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 1991 and a citation of Meritorious Service in 1997. Among its major recording projects are a warmly praised release of Delius' Mass of Life under Groves, a Dvorák symphony cycle, and other works by Mahler, Smetana, and Suk; and under Pesek, Vernon Handley's cycle of Vaughan Williams symphonies and a series of Mahler and Beethoven symphonies led by Sir Charles Mackerras. Read less
Featured Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra CDs & DVDs:
Composer:
Igor Stravinsky,
Sergei Rachmaninov,
Claude Debussy
Conductor:
Vasily Petrenko
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Recommendation
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Franz Schubert
Performer:
James Ehnes
Conductor:
Andrew Manze
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 4828491
Release Date: 10/20/2017
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Max Richter,
Jóhann Jóhannsson,
Joep Beving,
Philip Glass
...
Performer:
Max Richter,
Ben Russell,
Yuki Numata Resnick,
Jóhann Jóhannsson
...
Conductor:
André de Ridder,
Kristjan Järvi,
Clark Rundell,
Anthony Weeden
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Concert House Chamber Orchestra,
Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Fauré Quartet
...
Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8503294
Release Date: 10/13/2017
Number of Discs: 30
Composer:
Richard Strauss,
Johannes Brahms,
Anton Webern,
Felix Mendelssohn
...
Performer:
Thelma Handy,
Kenneth Munday,
David Shifrin,
Richard Todd
...
Conductor:
Gerard Schwarz,
Gunther Schuller,
Jason K. Fettig
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra,
New York Chamber Symphony
...
Recommendation
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 4828283
Release Date: 09/29/2017
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Max Richter,
Jóhann Jóhannsson,
Joep Beving,
Philip Glass
...
Performer:
Max Richter,
Tarn Travers,
Jóhann Jóhannsson,
Yuki Numata Resnick
...
Conductor:
André de Ridder,
Kristjan Järvi,
Clark Rundell,
Anthony Weeden
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Concert House Chamber Orchestra,
Fauré Quartet,
Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra
...
Label: Decca
Catalog: 002682002
Release Date: 06/16/2017
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Bryan Adams,
Leonard Cohen,
Adele Adkins,
Noel Gallagher
...
Conductor:
James Morgan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8573666
Release Date: 01/13/2017
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
Boris Giltburg,
Rhys Owens
Conductor:
Vasily Petrenko
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Erato
Catalog: 557829
Release Date: 10/21/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
Alexandre Tharaud,
Sabine Devieilhe,
Alexander Melnikov,
Aleksandar Madzar
Conductor:
Alexander Vedernikov
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Chandos
Catalog: 241
Release Date: 05/27/2016
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Gerald Finzi,
Arnold Bax,
Sir Arthur Bliss,
Charles Villiers Stanford
...
Performer:
Raphael Wallfisch
Conductor:
Vernon Handley,
Bryden Thomson,
Norman Del Mar
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
London Philharmonic Orchestra,
Ulster Orchestra
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 555050
Release Date: 04/22/2016
Number of Discs: 91
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny,
Arcangelo Corelli
...
Performer:
Yehudi Menuhin,
Hubert Giesen,
Artur Balsam,
Marcel Gazelle
...
Conductor:
Landon Ronald,
Pierre Monteux,
Jean Fournet,
Anatole Fistoulari
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra,
Paris Symphonic Orchestra,
Colonne Concerts Orchestra
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 555052
Release Date: 04/22/2016
Number of Discs: 18
Composer:
Sir Edward Elgar,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Antonín Dvorák,
Niccolò Paganini
...
Performer:
Yehudi Menuhin,
Gerald Moore,
George Enescu,
David Oistrakh
...
Conductor:
Sir Edward Elgar,
George Enescu,
Pierre Monteux,
Sir John Barbirolli
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra,
Paris Symphonic Orchestra,
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
...
Label: Lyrita
Catalog: 1124
Release Date: 03/11/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Peter Racine Fricker
Performer:
Robert Tear,
Jane Manning,
Gillian Weir
Conductor:
Sir Charles Groves,
Sir Colin Davis
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
Leeds Festival Chorus,
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8501111
Release Date: 10/09/2015
Number of Discs: 11
Composer:
Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor:
Vasily Petrenko
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 550572
Release Date: 07/10/2015
Number of Discs: 16
Composer:
Arthur Sullivan
Performer:
Monica Sinclair,
Marjorie Thomas,
George Baker,
John [baritone (50s)] Cameron
...
Conductor:
Sir Malcolm Sargent,
Sir Vivian Dunn,
Sir Charles Groves,
Sir Charles Mackerras
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Pro Arte Orchestra,
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus,
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
...
Recommendation