Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
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The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the UK's longest established orchestras, and is based in Liverpool. It is funded by the local authority, and is the only orchestra in the UK to own its own hall, the Philharmonic Hall. The hall has particularly fine acoustics, and has been used for many recordings with the orchestra.
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Conductors
The orchestra has had many principal conductors, and some of its most distinguished principal conductors include Max Bruch, Sir Henry Wood, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Sir Charles Groves, and Sir John Pritchard.
The current Music Director (principal conductor) is Gerard Schwarz, who shares his time between Liverpool and Seattle, where he is also conductor of the Seattle Symphony orchestra.
The orchestra also works with Libor Pesek (Conductor Laureate), Vernon Handley (Conductor Emeritus), and their current associate conductor, Matthew Coorey.
Carl Davis is a regular guest conductor.
Recordings
(section taken from http://www.liverpoolphil.com/discover/orchestra.pdf)
As a recording orchestra the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra has a varied and critically acclaimed discography.
RLPO Live
In 1998 the Orchestra launched its own recording label, RLPO Live, in 1998. The initiative came from the musicians themselves and each recording is made with the in-house recording company, Merseyside Sound Recordings.
In January 2003 RLPO Live and Classico Records joined forces - the RLPO's recordings are now able to reach international markets in a wide range of territories through Classico's long-established distribution network.
Other Recordings
A complete cycle of all six symphonies by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen, in a new edition, has been released by the RLPO and Douglas Bostock. The RLPO's extensive catalogue includes works by Beethoven, Britten, Dvorak, Mahler, Rachmaninov,Smetana, Strauss, Suk and Vaughan Williams. Several recordings feature the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, which enjoys an important partnership with the RLPO in concerts at home and abroad.
Partnership with Classic FM
In November 2001 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Classic FM, a major classical music radio station in the UK, announced a ground-breaking partnership which makes the RLPO Classic FM's "Orchestra in North West England". This relationship has been extended to 2009.