The National Philharmonic Orchestra is a British symphony orchestra created in London in 1964 by producers of RCA Records to make commercial audio recordings. Initially, he worked under different names ( RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, London Promenade Orchestra , London National Philharmonic Orchestra , etc.), the National Philharmonic Orchestra brand has been established since 1970. Record records of the orchestra were released under the labels RCA Read Seal , Columbia , Decca / London , etc. The orchestra ceased to exist in 1995.
Historical Review
The National Philharmonic Orchestra (originally called RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra ) was created in London in 1964 on the initiative of American producer RCA Records and conductor Charles Gerhardt and British violinist Sydney Sachs. The orchestra was conceived as a collective of session musicians who gathered for specific commercial recording projects. In addition to performing activities, Gerhardt and Sachs acted as directors of the orchestra, including engaging in engagements with recognized conductors and London-based freelance orchestras.
In the 1960s, Fritz Reiner , John Barbirolli , Jasha Gorenstein recorded with the orchestra. In the 1970s, Leopold Stokowski recorded a series of records of academic music with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Subsequently, the orchestra was led by Richard Boning (recorded the full three ballets by P.I. Tchaikovsky), Riccardo Chailly , Nicola Reshinho, Gianandrea Gavadzeni , Georg Solti , James Levine and other prominent conductors. Charles Gerhardt himself conducted many of the recordings.
The National Philharmonic Orchestra recorded a number of suites from the popular film music of leading Hollywood composers of the 1930s - 1960s, including Max Steiner (record holder for the number of orchestra records), Bernard Herrmann , Dmitry Tyomkin , E.V. Korngold , Alfred Newman , and also actively participated in the recording of soundtracks for Hollywood films of the 1970s and 1980s. with the music of John Williams (3 main episodes of the Star Wars movie epic), Jerry Goldsmith ( "Omen" , "Alien" ), Michael Keyman ( "Dead Zone" , "Highlander" ), Henry Mancini ( "Tom and Jerry. The Movie" ) and etc.
Having recorded in 1995 a “farewell” CD album with music by R. Wagner [1] , Gerhardt retired and the orchestra ceased to exist.