About Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Patron: HRH The Duke of York, KG
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor: Charles Dutoit

Formed in 1946 by flamboyant maestro Sir Thomas Beecham, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has enjoyed more than sixty-five years of success, giving first-class performances of a wide range of musical repertoire all over the world with artists of the highest calibre. Under the inspired leadership of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Charles Dutoit, the Orchestra continues to flourish, maintaining and building on a demanding schedule of performances, tours, community and education work, and recordings.

Throughout its history, the Orchestra has been directed by an illustrious list of distinguished conductors including Rudolf Kempe, Antal Doráti, André Previn, Vladimir Ashkenazy and, more recently, Daniele Gatti. Today the Orchestra continues to enjoy the leadership of high-ranking conductors, with Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Charles Dutoit supported by Pinchas Zukerman as Principal Guest Conductor, Grzegorz Nowak as Principal Associate Conductor and Daniele Gatti as Conductor Laureate.

Central to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s thriving concert schedule is its prestigious annual series at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. The Orchestra’s 2012-2013 series features Charles Dutoit, Pinchas Zukerman, Nicola Benedetti, Andrew Litton, Diego Matheuz, Kirill Karabits, Sir Willard White and The Bach Choir. At Cadogan Hall, the Orchestra’s London home in Chelsea, the intimate and luxurious surroundings provide the perfect concert atmosphere, with forthcoming performances featuring Grzegorz Nowak, Natasha Paremski and Jack Liebeck. Completing the Orchestra’s London programme of concerts, the iconic Royal Albert Hall provides the ideal setting for a varied series of monumental performances, ranging from large-scale choral and orchestral works to themed evenings of familiar repertoire. The Orchestra prides itself on a comprehensive regional touring programme, giving regular performances at venues across the UK and with established residencies in Croydon, Northampton, Lowestoft, Reading, Crawley, Ipswich, High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Dartford.

Internationally the Orchestra is in high demand, undertaking several major tours each season. Recent engagements have included a month-long tour to the USA and Canada, comprising of twenty-one concerts, as well as performances in China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Spain, Italy, Germany and Japan. The 2012-2013 season began with the third year of the Orchestra’s annual residency in Montreux, Switzerland, where it gave performances under Charles Dutoit and David Zinman with soloists including Louis Lortie, Daniil Trifonov and Arabella Steinbacher. Further engagements for the season include tours to Italy, Oman, Switzerland and Spain, and a major tour to Asia with Charles Dutoit and Yuja Wang.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s vibrant community and education programme, RPO resound, is one of the most diverse and celebrated programmes in the UK. Since its inception in 1993, specially trained musicians from the Orchestra, alongside accomplished project leaders, have delivered hundreds of pioneering projects where music is used as a powerful and inspirational tool. With an emphasis on broadening access to and engagement with world-class music-making, RPO resound is unique in the breadth and range of participant groups with which it works – from homeless shelters to hospices, youth clubs to prisons, and early years to higher education.

Frequently found in the recording studio, the Orchestra records extensively for film and television as well as for all the major commercial record companies.

PRESS QUOTES

‘The RPO do sensuousness uncommonly well. The end result was rich yet delicate, with wonderfully liquid woodwind solos and an exquisite sheen on the strings.’ The Guardian

‘Hats off to the RPO who sounded reborn.’ The Independent

‘The strings are highly impressive ... the RPO offers muscular brass and first-class woodwinds. The rhythmic intricacies and sharp contrasts in mood and tempi were dextrously handled by Dutoit and the musicians delivered the music with fleet bravura.’ Chicago Classical Review

Read our reviews

Date and venue	Title
20-Mar-2013 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall	Enchanting Russia: The RPO play Borodin, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky
It took the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra a little while to settle into tonight’s performance – which was a shame, because Borodin’s overture to Prince Igor can be a fantastic programme opener. A slightly untidy brass chord began the measured introduction, which sadly lacked tension in the build-up to the sudden fanfare and breakneck main theme. Read full review...
25-Jan-2013 Cadogan Hall	From tragedy to pastoral scenes: RPO at Cadogan Hall
Brahms, Chopin, Beethoven: the programme of he Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's most recent Cadogan Hall concert, under the baton of Fabien Gabel, was unashamedly mainstream. The opening item of the programme was the Brahms Tragic Overture. The opening strident chords managed to be agitated yet pensive, interrupted silence hanging in the air as each note dissipated once more. Read full review...
27-Nov-2012 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall	Strange meetings: Britten's War Requiem at the Southbank Centre
November continues to be a month of poppy art, despite Philip Larkin’s derisory account of “Wreath-rubbish in Whitehall”. As the only flower to survive the ravished soils of the trenches following the First World War, the poppy is replicated in the form of a paper badge to be worn yearly in commemoration of 11 November, the Armistice Day of 1918. It was deemed to be a symbol of hope and regeneration in the aftermath of devastating combat. Read full review...
6-Nov-2012 Cadogan Hall	Dances, variations and New Worlds with the RPO, Nowak and Julian Steckel
It is not often you can say that the conductor’s outfit was as ornate and charming as the billed programme, but the entrance of a silver-coated Grzegorz Nowak proved that even a conductor’s first bow can be the perfect aesthetic prelude to an evening of similarly silvery, charming music. Read full review...

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