London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, shortened to LPO for London Philharmonic Orchestra, was founded in 1932 by its first conductor, Thomas Beecham, together with Malcolm Sargent. The third-largest orchestra in the English capital after the London Symphony Orchestra (1904) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1930), the young ensemble had to cease operations during the Second World War, and saw its co-founder compete with him with the formation of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946. When the orchestra resumed after the war, it engaged Dutch conductor Eduard van Beinum for a brief three-year period (1947-1950), but it was under his successor, Adrian Boult, that it flourished between 1950 and 1957, to rank among the greatest international phalanges. Based at the Royal Festival Hall since 1951, the orchestra offers a symphonic repertoire of the highest quality, and is associated with Decca Records for the exploitation of its recordings. Appreciated throughout the world on tour, it gave acclaimed concerts as far afield as the Soviet Union, in 1956, a year before the retirement of its emblematic conductor in favor of William Steinberg. Steinberg stayed on until 1960, when he was succeeded by John Pritchard, who in 1964 formed a partnership with the Glyndebourne Festival, where he was Music Director. He was succeeded in 1967 by Bernard Haitink, who held the post for twelve years, during which time the Dutch conductor expanded the repertoire with symphonies by Bruckner, Mahler and Shostakovich, and continued touring as far afield as China in 1972. Despite competition from the London orchestras, the LPO managed to maintain its position at the highest level under Georg Solti (1979 to 1983), and took advantage of the arrival of the compact disc to demonstrate this under the successive mandates of Klaus Tennstedt (1983-1990) and Franz Welser-Möst (1996-1996). In addition to the great classical works, the orchestra opened up to pop music, recording symphonic versions of songs by Neil Diamond, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes and Procol Harum. Without a principal conductor for four years due to internal conflicts, the LPO regained a certain stability with the appointment of Kurt Masur (2000-2007), then Vladimir Jurowski (2007-2021). In 2021, the latter hands over to Edward Gardner, who conducted the orchestra for the first time as guest conductor in 2003.