The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner present two works that stand at opposite ends of Richard Strauss's creative life, effectively bookending the two World Wars of the 20th century. Strauss's depiction of a day in the life of an Alpine mountain was completed as the First World War took hold, while his deeply personal threnody for German musical life was written in the final months of the Second World War. Now in the fifth year of his tenure as Principal Conductor of the LPO, Ed Gardner continues to be one of today's most sought-after conductors. These recordings are a testament to the strength of the partnership between the LPO and Gardner, showcasing the Orchestra at both it's most epic and it's most intimate.
This recording of the Ninth Symphony marks LPO Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski's fifth Mahler release on the LPO Label, captured live with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on December 3, 2022. Jurowski has garnered an international reputation for his interpretation of Mahler's music, both on the podium, and through his distinguished recording legacy with the LPO. Mahler's Ninth was the composer's last symphony to be published during his lifetime. Written in the shadow of personal tragedy and his own heart condition, the work has often been heard as a farewell - to life, to Vienna, and to the world he knew. It's premiere was given in Vienna in June 1912 by Bruno Walter, Mahler's protege. Landmark performances with Walter and the LPO in the 1930s and 1940s helped ingrain Mahler's music into the Orchestra's DNA, a legacy that continues to shape the LPO's sound and spirit today.
One of Elgar's greatest works, The Dream of Gerontius is his setting of Cardinal Newman's poem about a dying man's journey from his deathbed to his judgment before God and his placement in Purgatory. The work is not a traditional oratorio; instead, it is a hauntingly beautiful and transformative journey of the soul. Elgar himself said of it, "I've written it out of my insidest inside." This BBC recording was captured live at the Royal Albert Hall during the 2022 BBC Proms season. Edward Gardner conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, with the Halle Choir, in what was described by The Guardian as a "perfectly judged performance." The recording features a cast of three world-class soloists - Allan Clayton, Jamie Barton, and James Platt - celebrated for their individual excellence and compelling interpretation of their roles.
Although LPO Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis has appeared on previous LPO Label releases alongside other conductors, this marks the first major release devoted entirely to her work with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Both symphonies were recorded live in London at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has a rich legacy of compelling Tchaikovsky interpretations with Vladimir Jurowski and Vasily Petrenko. Karina now stands with this legacy in the seventh Tchaikovsky release on the LPO Label.
Edward Gardner, now in his fifth season as Principal Conductor, continues to shape the LPO's distinctive sound with authority and brilliance. Gardner's long-standing relationship with Tippett's music is captured once again in this powerful live performance of A Child of Our Time. Recorded live in concert at London's Royal Festival Hall, this powerful performance - with the voices of the London Adventist Chorale especially deepening the soul-stirring impact of the Spirituals - highlights Gardner's long-standing affinity with Tippett's music, bringing conviction and emotional depth to this searing work of oppression, compassion and hope.
Rachminov's Symphonic Dances was one of the first four releases on the LPO Label. As a celebration of the LPO 20 Anniversariy, they are releasing a new recording of the Symphonic Dances, recorded in March of 2023, paired with Rachmaninov's The Bells. Both recordings are performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of our prinicpal conductor, Edward Gardner. The Bells, a choral symphony incorporates Edgar Allan Poe's namesake poem, with a traditional Georgian melody Dies Irae. Motifs of Dies Irae can also be heard in the final movement of the Symphonic Dance; where the Dies Irae theme represents Death.
Cuban-born American composer Tania Leon was Composer-in-Residence with the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2023-2025. During this period, she not only brought a bold new voice to the concert stage with a number of world premieres, but also mentored the LPO's Young Composers, championing living composers and diversity in contemporary music. Premiered in the UK by the LPO under Karina Canellakis at the Royal Festival Hall in October 2023, Horizons (1999) is an evocative orchestral work reflects Leon's fluid musical form - an ever-shifting stream punctuated by vivid foreground events and rich textures. Commissioned by the LPO and Concertgebouw Brugge and [world] premiered by the LPO under Edward Gardner in March 2024, Raices explores Leon's multicultural heritage through a vibrant, three-part structure that fuses contemplative textures, lively Latin rhythms and jazz-inflected exuberance. A Pulitzer Prize-winning work premiered by the New York Philharmonic and given it's UK premiere by the LPO in 2023 under the baton of Dima Slobodeniouk, Stride draws inspiration from women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony's determined spirit. It's powerful rhythmic language blends Black music traditions from the US and Caribbean with the modality of the orchestra. With it's European premiere by the LPO under Edward Gardner in February 2025, the vivid four-part Pasajes evokes the sounds, sights, and joyful spirit of Leon's childhood in Cuba. Rich in color, rhythm and narrative, it is a sonic gallery of cultural memory, celebration and radio playing in the street.
This is Edward Gardner's sixth release on LPO Label, and the third that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the label in 2025. This Britten program was recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall (Sinfonia da Requiem and The Prince of the Pagodas) and Saffron Hall (Winter Words). A bold, early masterpiece written at just twenty-six and originally commissioned to commemorate Japan's 2600th imperial anniversary, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem was rejected for being too solemn, but emerged as his only major purely orchestral work and a powerful response to the growing threat of war. Winter Words Britten's poignant song cycle originally for tenor and piano, set to texts of 8 poems by Thomas Hardy is presented here in a new orchestration by Robin Holloway-a world premiere recording. The Prince of the Pagodas, Britten's ballet with Edward Gardner's distilled concert suite from The Prince of the Pagodas-another world premiere recording-fulfils Britten's unrealised ambition to arrange his full-length ballet into a dramatic orchestral suite.
This release is the second of three major recordings featuring LPO Principal Conductor Edward Gardner during the period of marking 20 years of the Orchestra's acclaimed record label. Dvorak's Symphony No.7 was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Society in 1884. It may not be his most popular symphony, but it's arguably the best. It combines dramatic, dark and flawless structure with radiant melodies cutting through it's intensity. In contrast, Schumann's Symphony No.2 is a deeply personal work, written during the time of his struggles with depression. The melodies blend restless energy with transcendent lyricism, culminating in a cathartic finale. Captured live in concert at London's Royal Festival Hall, these recordings are a testament to the emotional depth and refined artistry of the LPO under Gardner's dynamic leadership.
Rachminov's Symphonic Dances was one of the first four releases on the LPO Label. As a celebration of the LPO 20 Anniversariy, they are releasing a new recording of the Symphonic Dances, recorded in March of 2023, paired with Rachmaninov's The Bells. Both recordings are performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of our prinicpal conductor, Edward Gardner. The Bells, a choral symphony incorporates Edgar Allan Poe's namesake poem, with a traditional Georgian melody Dies Irae. Motifs of Dies Irae can also be heard in the final movement of the Symphonic Dance; where the Dies Irae theme represents Death.
Brett Dean was the London Philharmonic Orchestra's Composer-in-Residence from 2020-2023; this release brings together seven works recorded live in concert during his tenure. Together with five leading conductors and five outstanding soloists, the LPO skilfully navigates the diverse facets of Dean's orchestral writing, from the vivid soundscapes and virtuosity of the Viola and Cello Concertos, to the drama of In spe contra spem - quoting letters and speeches by Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots - and the theatrical accordion work The Players, which revisits scenes from Dean's award-winning 2017 opera Hamlet.
LPO Principal Conductor Edward Gardner loves the music of Michael Tippett, he says, because of it's 'otherworldly, luminous and elemental' qualities, which 'strike right from his inspiration to a listener's heart.' In 2022 the LPO and Gardner released a landmark live recording of Tippett's opera The Midsummer Marriage, which won a Gramophone Award, and on this disc Gardner continues to shine a spotlight on this fascinating 20th-century composer. The ferociously difficult Piano Concerto is executed flawlessly by Steven Osborne, while the Second Symphony revels in the newfound clarity, intricate textures and formal rigor that would become the hallmarks of Tippett's later works.
This recording concludes a highly-rated three-volume Stravinsky series recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with then Principal Conductor (now Conductor Emeritus) Vladimir Jurowski. This series documents Jurowski's year-long Stravinsky festival with the LPO in 2018, 'Changing Faces'. The festival surveyed Stravinsky's works, programed chronologically alongside his influences and those he influenced. Vladimir Jurowski is one of today's most sought-after conductors. His LPO performances from Stravinsky's catalog covered his 20-year association with the Orchestra. The first volume of the series was a Gramophone Editor's Choice. Stravinsky's music in the hands of Jurowski delivers live in concert a focus and clarity that is beautifully preserved and realised on these recordings.
Hot on the heels of Principal Conductor Edward Gardner's triumph at the 2023 Gramophone Awards where Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage (LPO-0124) won the Opera Award, comes Gardner's second release on the LPO Label - Berlioz's spectacular The Damnation of Faust. Audiences have been captivated by Gardner's artistry, all ears are poised for this anticipated follow-up release. Half grand opera, half roof-raising choral-orchestral spectacular, Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust caused a scandal in 1846 when it was first performed, and with it's supernatural story and thumping good melodies, it's still one of 19th-century music's most rivetingly sinful treats. Recorded live at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on 4 February 2023 with three-massed choruses and all-start cast, this release captures the drama of the opera. The performance and recording of The Damnation of Faust took place 4 February 4, 2023 and features an outstanding cast: Karen Cargill as Marguerite; John Irvin as Faust; Christopher Purves as Mephistopheles; and Jonathan Lemalu as Brander. Joining them is the London Philharmonic Choir, members of the London Symphony Chorus, and the London Youth Choirs.
This recording is the second of a highly-rated three-volume Stravinsky series recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with then Principal Conductor (now Conductor Emeritus) Vladimir Jurowski. This series documents Jurowski's year-long Stravinsky festival with the LPO in 2018, 'Changing Faces'. The festival surveyed Stravinsky's works, programed chronologically alongside his influences and those he influenced. The Fairy's Kiss is a work close to Jurowski's heart. The LPO had performed this work 17 times under his baton by the time of this recording, and the partnership between the conductor and the Orchestra culminates in this performance. It is rare to find a live performance recording of The Sleeping Beauty excerpts. The most recent commercial recording of the Pas de deux was 2012. Stravinsky was in the audience, as an 8-year old, for the premiere performance of Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty, a performance that was to have a profound effect on him as a composer. Stravinsky's music in the hands of Jurowski delivers live in concert a focus and clarity that is beautifully preserved and realised on these recordings.
This recording captures the UK premiere performance of James MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, performed and recorded in the presence of the composer. The world premiere of the work was given by the Dutch Radio Philharmonic and Choir in Amsterdam in January 2021. The LPO was due to give the world premiere of the work however, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the performance came on December 4 2021, a year later than planned. Composed in 2019, this work reflects MacMillan's Scottish roots and Catholic faith, embracing a Scots Gaelic lullaby, English poetry, Latin texts and Bible passages recounting the Nativity. The work, commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, is split into two parts with seven movements each. Both parts start and finish with short orchestral movements, creating a palindromic structure. Soprano Lucy Crowe and baritone Roderick Williams shine in this performance, both performing two arias each and singing with the London Philharmonic Choir in the Tableaux.
This is the first commercially available recording of Tippett's first opera in over 50 years, recorded in a landmark performance conducted by Tippett enthusiast Edward Gardner. Performed at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, this performance was a thrilling start to Edward Gardner's tenure as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Vladimir Jurowski is one of today's most sought after conductors. His London Philharmonic Orchestra performances from Stravinsky's catalogue span his 20 year association with the Orchestra, culminating in him including Stravinsky's Jeu de cartes in the program of his final concert as Principal Conductor in August 2021. This recording, the first of a three volume Stravinsky series, features two cornerstone works. The Firebird featured in Jurowski's first scheduled concert conducting the LPO back in March 2002 and this recording comes from a 2018 Royal Festival Hall performance, described as "a masterpiece" by the Evening Standard. The Rite of Spring comes from an earlier Royal Festival Hall concert in 2008. Stravinsky's music in the hands of Jurowski delivers a focus and clarity that is beautifully preserved and realised on these recordings.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra presents this live recording from 2017 of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, with soloists including Sofia Fomina and Matthew Rose, and massed choirs. It's a celebration of the end of Jurowski's 14-year tenure as Principal Conductor.
Vladimir Jurowski leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra and choir in the world premiere recording of Vladimir Martynov's Utopia symphony. The Symphony was commissioned by Singapore's Foundation for the Arts and Social Enterprise as a musical testament to Singapore. Vladimir Martynov is a composer of the Russian avant-garde and his style, which combines Soviet minimalism with Russian Orthodox chant, is exemplified in this work. The libretto is based on the Tao Te Ching and strives to reimagine the concept of Utopia.
From it's opening notes, to it's final closing breaths, the spirit of revolution is infused into the fabric of Shostakovich's 11th Symphony. Completed in 1957, it remembers the failed uprising of 1905 and hints at Hungary's anti-Soviet rebellion of 1956. Through his powerful, and at times unsettling music, Shostakovich celebrates the revolutionary spirit and offers a cautionary tale about the dangers of complete power. The London Philharmonic Orchestra harnesses the dark intensity and emotion of his writing in this live performance under Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski.
Recorded live in concert at Royal Festival Hall in 1988 and 1992 under the baton of Zubin Mehta, these recordings of Richard Strauss's Symphonia Domestica and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade are now available from the London Philharmonic Orchestra archives.
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REVIEW:
The key to appreciating the Symphonia Domestica's gentleness and its small details, as American audiences did from early on, is to simply take the work at face value, and this is accomplished admirably here by conductor Zubin Mehta. Even better, is the pairing: Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Op. 35, might seem poles away from the Symphonia Domestica in its contrast of eastern exoticism to Strauss' bourgeois world, but Mehta asks hearers to listen again. Both works are delicately orchestrated, a bit folkish in places, and they alternate action with big melodies in a similar way, and what melodies they are. A fine pairing of favorites from the London Philharmonic's in-house label.
Recorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London, on 27 November 2013 and 14 October 2015.
“The LPO string-players vividly felt the music’s pain. They don’t write music like that anymore” - Classical Source on Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, 14 October 2015
This is the first release of works by Krzysztof Penderecki on the LPO Label. The Orchestra has had a long relationship with Krzysztof Penderecki as both a composer and a conductor, regularly performing his works at Royal Festival Hall.
The Adagio for Strings and Horn Concerto on this album, both conducted by the composer, are recordings of the UK premiere performances.
Krzysztof Penderecki wrote the Horn Concerto specifically for soloist Radovan Vlatkovic. The Guardian described this performance as impressive, and having a “disquieting, at times savage beauty,” while The Telegraph called it “fantastically fluent” with “genuinely entrancing [moments].”
This is also the first release on the LPO Label featuring conductor Micha? Dworzynski. He is renowned as a great champion of music by Polish composers. His interpretation of the Violin Concerto was praised by The Guardian for capturing “the work’s fraught, tightly bound texture and the imploded lyricism of its constantly evolving melodic material.”
Violinist Barnabás Kelemen’s performance in the Violin Concerto was widely praised. Bachtrack said he “[married] brilliant virtuosity to deep expressiveness. Whether racing through leaping runs or holding eye-wateringly high notes, his tone never faltered.”
The Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima is an iconic work by Penderecki which received the UNESCO Prize in 1961. On its dedication to Hiroshima, Penderecki wrote “May this threnody express my deep belief that the sacrifice of Hiroshima will never be forgotten and lost, and Hiroshima will become a symbol of brotherhood between people of good will.”
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REVIEW:
All the works here, except the First Violin Concerto, are conducted by Penderecki himself, so hearing them with the LPO in the Festival Hall immediately makes this a special document, and it is a fascinating compilation of the orchestra’s performances of his music in recent years. The LPO is consistently excellent throughout.
Shankar: Sukanya / Murphy, London Philharmonic Orchestra
LPO
CD
$16.99Jan 10, 2020
Sukanya is Ravi Shankar’s only opera. He began writing it at the age of 90 and it was left incomplete at the time of his death in 2012. It was completed and orchestrated by David Murphy, a longtime collaborator of Shankar’s, with the help of Shankar’s wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka.
Inspired by Shankar’s own wife and based on a tale from the Mah?bh?rata, Sukanya seamlessly blends Western and Indian musical traditions to tell an epic and magical love story which transcends time and space.
Featuring the original cast of the opera, including Susanna Hurrell and Alok Kumar as Sukanya and Chyavana the elderly sage performing alongside masters of traditional Indian instruments and the BBC Singers. This blend of traditions was praised for its “soundworld of arresting beauty and originality” (What’s On Stage). This World Premiere recording is taken from a live performance during the premiere production of the opera. Classical Source praised the production and said it created “a blaze of colour and energy... ravishing musical moments and gorgeous spectacle... Sukanya is a triumphant celebration of shared humanity.” The Telegraph called the production “a delightful evening of pure escapism,” and The Guardian described it as “a ravishing spectacle.”
LPO concert performance of Sukanya on 15th January 2020 at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Mozart was a master at capturing the spirits of the instruments for which he wrote. This skill is perfectly exemplified here in the lighter-than-air Flute Concerto No.2, the sprightly and playful Bassoon Concerto and the interplay of the four soloists in the Sinfonia Concertante. These three exceptional works come to life in this studio recording with featuring soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski.
