London Symphony Orchestra
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The London Symphony Orchestra (frequently abbreviated to LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. Since 1982 it has been based in London's Barbican Centre.
It was founded in 1904 as an independent, self governing organization, the first such orchestra in the UK. It played its first concert on June 9 of that year, with Hans Richter conducting. He remained principal conductor until 1911, when Edward Elgar took over for a year.
More recently, its principal conductors have included Pierre Monteux (1961–64), Istvan Kertesz (1965–68), André Previn (1968–79) and Claudio Abbado (1979–88). From 1988-1995, the American Michael Tilson-Thomas took over, and in 1995, became principal guest conductor. Sir Colin Davis became the LSO's Principal Conductor in 1995, and he will relinquish this position at the end of 2006 and take the post of President of the orchestra. On 1 January 2007, Valery Gergiev will become the LSO's Principal Conductor. Previn holds the title of Conductor Laureate. In 2006, Daniel Harding became the co-principal guest conductor alongside Tilson Thomas. Richard Hickox is the Associate Guest Conductor of the LSO.
The LSO became the first British orchestra to play overseas when it went to Paris in 1906. The LSO was due to sail on the RMS Titanic for a concert in New York in April 1912 but fortunately had to change the booking at the last minute. It was also the first to play in the United States, in 1912, and in 1973 it was the first to be invited to take part in the Salzburg Festival. It continues to make tours around the world.
The LSO has long been considered the most extroverted of the London orchestras. There is an air of youthful high spirits to much of its music-making that is shown off in performances of such composers as Berlioz and Prokofiev. The LSO has often had internationally-known players as wind soloists, including such artists as James Galway (flute), Gervase de Peyer (clarinet), Roger Lord (oboe), Osian Ellis (harp), John Georgiadis (violin) and Barry Tuckwell (horn). Like most ensembles, the orchestra has a great ability to vary its sound, producing very different tone colours under such diverse conductors as Stokowski (with whom it made a series of memorable recordings), Adrian Boult, Jascha Horenstein, Georg Solti, André Previn, George Szell, Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, John Barbirolli, and Karl Böhm, who developed a close relationship with the orchestra late in his life. Böhm and Bernstein each held the title of LSO President in their later years.
The LSO is also famous for recording many motion picture film scores down the years. These include, under the composer John Williams' baton, all the Star Wars films (with Maurice Murphy playing the main trumpet theme in all of them), Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Raiders of the Lost Ark,The Land Before Time, Braveheart, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Superman, as well as the innovative IllumiNations at the American theme park, Epcot. It has also performed on many pop recordings, including The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. On television, the LSO was featured on André Previn's Music Night.
In 1966 the London Symphony Chorus (LSC) was formed to complement the work of the LSO. Consisting of over 200 amateur singers, the LSC maintains a close association with the LSO; however it has developed an independent life, which allows it to partner other leading orchestras.
Currently, Kathryn McDowell is the Managing Director of the LSO, having succeeded Clive Gillinson. Since 2000, the LSO has been issuing commercial CD recordings on its own label, LSO Live, which was established under Gillison's watch.
[edit] Principal Conductors
- Hans Richter (1904–1911)
- Edward Elgar (1911–1912)
- Arthur Nikisch (1912–1914)
- Thomas Beecham (1915–1917)
- Albert Coates (1919–1922)
- Willem Mengelberg (1930–1931)
- Hamilton Harty (1932–1935)
- Josef Krips (1951–1954)
- Pierre Monteux (1960–1964)
- István Kertész (1965–1968)
- André Previn (1968–1979)
- Claudio Abbado (1979–1987)
- Michael Tilson Thomas (1987–1995)
- Colin Davis (1995–2006)
- Valery Gergiev (2007-)
[edit] Media
The London Symphony Orchestra was used in the video game Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, providing much of the background music in the game.
[edit] External links
| Orchestras based in London, England |
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| Academy of Ancient Music · Academy of St. Martin in the Fields · BBC Concert Orchestra · BBC Symphony Orchestra · Camerata of London · City of London Sinfonia · English Chamber Orchestra · London Philharmonic Orchestra · London Sinfonietta · London Symphony Orchestra · Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment · Philharmonia · Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
