Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège
Encyclopedia
The Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (ORPL) (Liège Royal Philharmonic ) is a Belgian symphony orchestra, based in Liège. The OPRL was founded in 1960. With 100 members, the Liège Royal Philharmonic performs nearly 80 concerts each season, with approximately fifty of these concerts at the Salle Philharmonique de Liège, its home base. The OPRL also makes regular guest appearances in concert halls throughout the Benelux
countries and in France
. The OPRL receives financial support from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the City of Liège, the Province of Liège, the Région wallonne (Wallonie Region), and the Loterie Nationale (National Lottery).
While French and twentieth century music form the core of its repertoire, the Orchestra also strongly supports the work of many contemporary composers
, most notably, Philippe Boesmans
, Henri Dutilleux
, Thierry Escaich
, Michel Fourgon, Claude Ledoux, Magnus Lindberg
, and Benoît Mernier. In its recording career, the Orchestra has championed the canon of Belgian composers, Albert Dupuis
, César Franck
, Joseph Jongen
, Émile Mathieu
, and André Souris
, and the French composers, Ernest Chausson
, Édouard Lalo
, Francis Poulenc
, and Maurice Ravel
. The orchestra has recorded commercially for the Naïve and Cyprès record labels.
The current music director of the OPL is Christian Arming, who was named to the post in May 2011. His initial contract is for 4 years, beginning with the 2011-2012 season.
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
countries and in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The OPRL receives financial support from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the City of Liège, the Province of Liège, the Région wallonne (Wallonie Region), and the Loterie Nationale (National Lottery).
While French and twentieth century music form the core of its repertoire, the Orchestra also strongly supports the work of many contemporary composers
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
, most notably, Philippe Boesmans
Philippe Boesmans
-Life:Boesmans was born in Tongeren and studied piano at the Conservatory in Liège, where he was also introduced to serial composing techniques by Pierre Froidebise. However, it was only after coming into contact with the "Liège Group" in 1957 that he began to write music, as a self-taught composer...
, Henri Dutilleux
Henri Dutilleux
Henri Dutilleux is one of the most important French composers of the second half of the 20th century, producing work in the tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Albert Roussel, but in a style distinctly his own...
, Thierry Escaich
Thierry Escaich
Thierry Escaich, born 8 May 1965 in Nogent-sur-Marne, is a French organist and composer.-Life:Born in 1965, Thierry Escaich studied organ, improvisation and composition at the Paris Conservatory , where he won 8 “first prizes” and where he has taught improvisation and composition since...
, Michel Fourgon, Claude Ledoux, Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg is a Finnish composer and pianist. He is currently the composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic.-Education:...
, and Benoît Mernier. In its recording career, the Orchestra has championed the canon of Belgian composers, Albert Dupuis
Albert Dupuis
-Biography:Albert Dupuis was born in Verviers on 1 March 1877.The son of a music teacher, Dupuis studied violin, piano and flute from the age of 8, at the conservatory in his hometown, Verviers, also home of Guillaume Lekeu and Henri Vieuxtemps. Orphaned at age 15, he worked as a tutor at the Grand...
, César Franck
César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
, Joseph Jongen
Joseph Jongen
Marie-Alphonse-Nicolas-Joseph Jongen was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator.-Biography:Jongen was born in Liège. On the strength of an amazing precocity for music, he was admitted to the Liège Conservatoire at the extraordinarily young age of seven, and spent the next sixteen years...
, Émile Mathieu
Émile Mathieu (composer)
Émile Mathieu was a Belgian composer of classical music.His best known work today is "Freyhir", an hour-long choral tone poem written in 1883 on the theme of deforestation around Ardennes where the composer grew up...
, and André Souris
André Souris
André Souris was a Belgian composer, conductor, musicologist, and writer associated with the surrealist movement.-Biography:...
, and the French composers, Ernest Chausson
Ernest Chausson
Amédée-Ernest Chausson was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.-Life:Ernest Chausson was born in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family...
, Édouard Lalo
Édouard Lalo
Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo was a French composer.-Biography:Lalo was born in Lille , in northernmost France. He attended that city's music conservatory in his youth. Then, beginning at age 16, Lalo studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Berlioz's old enemy François Antoine Habeneck...
, Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, and Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
. The orchestra has recorded commercially for the Naïve and Cyprès record labels.
The current music director of the OPL is Christian Arming, who was named to the post in May 2011. His initial contract is for 4 years, beginning with the 2011-2012 season.
Music directors
- 1960-1964: Fernand Quinet
- 1964-1967: Manuel RosenthalManuel RosenthalManuel Rosenthal was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America...
- 1967-1977: Paul Strauss
- 1977-1999: Pierre Bartholomée
- 2001-2006: Louis LangréeLouis LangréeLouis Langrée is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée. One of his sisters is an amateur cellist....
- 2006-2009: Pascal Rophé
- 2009-2010: François-Xavier RothFrançois-Xavier RothFrançois-Xavier Roth is a French conductor. His father is the organist Daniel Roth. His brother Vincent Roth is a violist. Before turning to conducting, Roth was a flutist...
- 2011-present: Christian Arming