Philharmonia Chorus
Encyclopedia
The Philharmonia Chorus is an independent self-governing symphony choir
of up to 150 singers based in London
, UK. It performs concert and operatic choral repertory from baroque to contemporary. The Chorus Master is Stefan Bevier.
as a choral counterpart to the Philharmonia Orchestra
which he had founded twelve years earlier. The Chorus’s first concert, a performance on 12 November 1957 of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
, completed a cycle of Beethoven symphonies in London’s Royal Festival Hall
with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer
and was recorded shortly afterwards with the same performers.
To create his chorus, Legge turned to Wilhelm Pitz, then chorus master of the Bayreuth Festival
. Between first rehearsal in February 1957 and first concert there was a long period of preparation during which Pitz rehearsed the Chorus in not only the scheduled Beethoven but also in choral passages from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
. From that preparatory work emerged a chorus unique for its blend of British choral tradition and German musical training and discipline and for a dramatic quality found more typically in opera than in a symphony chorus. The full yet homogeneous and professionally disciplined sound immediately attracted critical notice.
, Sir Thomas Beecham
, Carlo Maria Giulini
(a particularly close relationship), Herbert von Karajan
, Leopold Stokowski
, Sir John Barbirolli
and Sir Adrian Boult
. Benchmark recordings of the Maria Callas
/Tullio Serafin
Lucia di Lammermoor
, Sir William Walton
conducting his own Belshazzar’s Feast
, Klemperer’s Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Beethoven’s Fidelio
and Mahler’s Second Symphony, and Giulini’s Verdi Requiem
and Quattro Pezzi Sacri
won particular acclaim. Tours followed to the Edinburgh Festival
, to Lucerne
, and with Giulini to Parma
where the audience in the Teatro Regio paid it the remarkable compliment of showering carnations on this British chorus singing Verdi to Italians.
, George Szell
, Daniel Barenboim
and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
(notable recordings of Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Orff’s Carmina Burana), and further collaborations with Walton, Benjamin Britten
conducting his Spring Symphony, and a landmark performance and recording of Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Giulini, with Britten himself conducting the chamber ensemble. During the 1960s the (New) Philharmonia Chorus was widely considered the finest symphony chorus in the UK and perhaps also in Europe.
On his retirement in 1971, Wilhelm Pitz was succeeded as Chorus Master by Walter Hagen-Groll from the Deutsche Oper of West Berlin, in 1975 by Norbert Balatsch, chorus master of both Vienna Staatsoper and Bayreuth Festival, in 1980 by Heinz Mende former chorus master of the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich, and then in 1984 by Horst Neumann, chorus master of the Rundfunkchor Leipzig.
.
These years saw the Chorus tour widely throughout Europe: several staged operas in the Roman Théâtre Antique d’Orange, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung in Paris
and London to celebrate the UK’s entry into the Common Market in 1973, Handel
’s Judas Maccabeus with Sir Charles Mackerras
at Teatro alla Scala Milan
in 1980 followed a few years later by a second appearance at La Scala in Bach
’s B minor Mass under Giulini. A 1979 recording of Mozart’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Giulini won the 1981 Grammy Award
for Best Choral Performance.
In the UK there were engagements with Riccardo Muti
, Sir Georg Solti
, Lovro von Matačić
, Giuseppe Sinopoli
, Seiji Ozawa
, Vladimir Ashkenazy
, Bernard Haitink
, Charles Dutoit
, and in 1980 its first appearance at the Royal Opera House
Covent Garden in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem at the Rudolf Kempe
Memorial Concert. A second appearance in the same House six years later in Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Sir Simon Rattle was a Memorial Concert for Sir Peter Pears
. Two years later in 1988 a particular honour was paid the Chorus: an invitation to perform in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Amsterdam
’s Concertgebouw
to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and concert hall, the hall’s re-opening after renovations, and Bernard Haitink
’s last concerts as chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
and later at Winchester Cathedral
, became Chorus Master, the first Briton to hold the post. He was succeeded by Robert Dean, formerly Head of Music at Scottish Opera
and Professor of Singing at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, who was appointed Artistic Director and Chorus Master in 1998. In these years the Chorus performed Rachmaninov’s Vespers in Westminster and Winchester Cathedrals and recorded it, accompanied Luciano Pavarotti
“in the Park” and at Leeds Castle
, remixed Beatles numbers, and performed before HM The Queen for the 50th Anniversary of VE Day.
In December 1997 the Chorus celebrated its 40th Birthday with its patron HRH The Prince of Wales
in attendance at a Gala performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by James Levine
, followed three days later by a performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the same conductor. During this period the Chorus performed for the first time with Valery Gergiev
and Sir Mark Elder
. Foreign tours took place to Strasbourg
, its first visit to the US (to Baltimore
), and in 2000 the Chorus was invited to perform for Pope John Paul II
in the Vatican
on his 80th birthday. A tour of UK and the Continent with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
with Sir Simon Rattle
culminated in BBC2‘s Millennium Concert broadcast from Ely Cathedral
. In autumn 2002 the Chorus joined the orchestra and chorus of Norddeutscher Rundfunk and the BBC Singers
in the presence of the President of Germany Johannes Rau
and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
for a concert of reconciliation, Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich
, performed in the Turbine Hall of the former Nazi rocket development factory in Peenemünde
, north Germany.
In 2004, following a semi-staged concert performance of Weber
’s Der Freischütz
at the Edinburgh Festival
the previous year, Sir Charles Mackerras agreed to become the Chorus’s first President. June 2007 saw the Philharmonia Chorus celebrate its 50th Anniversary with a performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti in the presence of its Patron HRH The Prince of Wales. In Autumn 2008 Edward Caswell took over as Artistic Director, and trained the Chorus for a performance of Bernstein
’s Kaddish Symphony in London’s Barbican Centre
conducted by John Axelrod in a concert to mark the 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht
.
, a noted Mahler specialist. This was soon followed by the first broadcast performance, in the chapel of King’s College Cambridge, of James MacMillan’s recently composed Passion According to St John, performed in the presence of the composer.
2010 has also seen the Philharmonia Chorus return to its tradition of German musical training with the appointment as Chorus Master of Stefan Bevier from Berlin, a former player with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
, a singer and conductor.
1971-1975 Walter Hagen-Groll
1975-1980 Norbert Balatsch
1980-1983 Heinz Mende
1984-1992 Horst Neumann
1992-1998 David Hill
1998-2007 Robert Dean (Artistic Director)
2008-2010 Edward Caswell (Artistic Director)
2010- Stefan Bevier
. Since 1984, the Chorus has had as its Accompanist Stephen Rose, Senior Coach at the Opera department of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and of the National Opera Studio in London.
Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales
KG, KT, PC, GCM, OM
Chairman: Richard Harding
Accompanist: Stephen Rose
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
of up to 150 singers based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK. It performs concert and operatic choral repertory from baroque to contemporary. The Chorus Master is Stefan Bevier.
Foundation
The Philharmonia Chorus was founded in 1957 by Walter LeggeWalter Legge
Harry Walter Legge was an influential English classical record producer, most notably for EMI. His recordings include many sets later regarded as classics and reissued by EMI as "Great Recordings of the Century". He worked in the recording industry from 1927, combining this with the post of junior...
as a choral counterpart to the Philharmonia Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
which he had founded twelve years earlier. The Chorus’s first concert, a performance on 12 November 1957 of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
, completed a cycle of Beethoven symphonies in London’s Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
and was recorded shortly afterwards with the same performers.
To create his chorus, Legge turned to Wilhelm Pitz, then chorus master of the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
. Between first rehearsal in February 1957 and first concert there was a long period of preparation during which Pitz rehearsed the Chorus in not only the scheduled Beethoven but also in choral passages from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is among the longest operas still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich, on June 21,...
. From that preparatory work emerged a chorus unique for its blend of British choral tradition and German musical training and discipline and for a dramatic quality found more typically in opera than in a symphony chorus. The full yet homogeneous and professionally disciplined sound immediately attracted critical notice.
Early years
Under Legge’s management and Pitz’s training the Chorus worked with many of the most distinguished conductors of the time: Wolfgang SawallischWolfgang Sawallisch
Wolfgang Sawallisch is a retired German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied composition and pianoforte there privately: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for...
, Sir Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
, Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
(a particularly close relationship), Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
, Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
, Sir John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli, CH was an English conductor and cellist. Born in London, of Italian and French parentage, he grew up in a family of professional musicians. His father and grandfather were violinists...
and Sir Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
. Benchmark recordings of the Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
/Tullio Serafin
Tullio Serafin
-Biography:Tullio Serafin was a leading Italian opera conductor with a long career and a very broad repertoire who revived many 19th century bel canto operas by Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti to become staples of 20th century repertoire...
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, Sir William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
conducting his own Belshazzar’s Feast
Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)
Belshazzar's Feast is an oratorio by the English composer William Walton. It was first performed at the Leeds Festival on 8 October 1931. The work has remained one of Walton's most celebrated compositions and one of the most popular works in the English choral repertoire...
, Klemperer’s Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Beethoven’s Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
and Mahler’s Second Symphony, and Giulini’s Verdi Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
and Quattro Pezzi Sacri
Quattro Pezzi Sacri
The Quattro Pezzi Sacri, or Four Sacred Pieces, are choral works by Giuseppe Verdi. Written separately and with different origins and purposes, they were nevertheless published together, in 1898, and are often performed as a cycle in this sequence:...
won particular acclaim. Tours followed to the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, to Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
, and with Giulini to Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
where the audience in the Teatro Regio paid it the remarkable compliment of showering carnations on this British chorus singing Verdi to Italians.
Self-governance
When Legge relinquished management in 1964, the re-formed New Philharmonia Chorus became a self-governing body with a Council of Management of twelve Directors elected by the members, a system of governance which remains in place today. The first concert of both New Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus took place on 27 October 1964, a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony again conducted by Klemperer. In succeeding years the Chorus performed and recorded works with further renowned conductors: Lorin MaazelLorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...
, George Szell
George Szell
George Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
, Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is a Spanish conductor and composer.Frühbeck studied violin, piano, and composition at the conservatories of Bilbao and Madrid...
(notable recordings of Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Orff’s Carmina Burana), and further collaborations with Walton, Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
conducting his Spring Symphony, and a landmark performance and recording of Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Giulini, with Britten himself conducting the chamber ensemble. During the 1960s the (New) Philharmonia Chorus was widely considered the finest symphony chorus in the UK and perhaps also in Europe.
On his retirement in 1971, Wilhelm Pitz was succeeded as Chorus Master by Walter Hagen-Groll from the Deutsche Oper of West Berlin, in 1975 by Norbert Balatsch, chorus master of both Vienna Staatsoper and Bayreuth Festival, in 1980 by Heinz Mende former chorus master of the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich, and then in 1984 by Horst Neumann, chorus master of the Rundfunkchor Leipzig.
Re-instatement of the original name
On 1 September 1977 the Chorus was able to take back its former name, Philharmonia Chorus, and later the same month gave two performances of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Belgium with the similarly reinstated Philharmonia Orchestra under Michael Tilson ThomasMichael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony, and artistic director of the New World Symphony Orchestra.-Early years:...
.
These years saw the Chorus tour widely throughout Europe: several staged operas in the Roman Théâtre Antique d’Orange, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and London to celebrate the UK’s entry into the Common Market in 1973, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
’s Judas Maccabeus with Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
at Teatro alla Scala Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in 1980 followed a few years later by a second appearance at La Scala in Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
’s B minor Mass under Giulini. A 1979 recording of Mozart’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Giulini won the 1981 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Choral Performance.
In the UK there were engagements with Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
, Sir Georg Solti
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
, Lovro von Matačić
Lovro von Matacic
Lovro von Matačić was a Croatian conductor and composer.-Biography:Lovro von Matačić was born in Sušak to a family that was granted a noble title in the early 17th century. Growing up, he was always surrounded by music and art: his father had a career as an opera singer, and his mother as an actress...
, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Giuseppe Sinopoli
-Biography:Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin and at Darmstadt, including being mentored in composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen...
, Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland...
, Bernard Haitink
Bernard Haitink
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink, CH, KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist.- Early life :Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam...
, Charles Dutoit
Charles Dutoit
Charles Édouard Dutoit, is a Swiss conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of French and Russian 20th century music...
, and in 1980 its first appearance at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
Covent Garden in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem at the Rudolf Kempe
Rudolf Kempe
Rudolf Kempe was a German conductor.- Biography :Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and then in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, from 1929...
Memorial Concert. A second appearance in the same House six years later in Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Sir Simon Rattle was a Memorial Concert for Sir Peter Pears
Peter Pears
Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
. Two years later in 1988 a particular honour was paid the Chorus: an invitation to perform in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
’s Concertgebouw
Concertgebouw
The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...
to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and concert hall, the hall’s re-opening after renovations, and Bernard Haitink
Bernard Haitink
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink, CH, KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist.- Early life :Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam...
’s last concerts as chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
New horizons
In 1992 David Hill, Director of Music at Westminster CathedralWestminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
and later at Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
, became Chorus Master, the first Briton to hold the post. He was succeeded by Robert Dean, formerly Head of Music at Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
and Professor of Singing at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, who was appointed Artistic Director and Chorus Master in 1998. In these years the Chorus performed Rachmaninov’s Vespers in Westminster and Winchester Cathedrals and recorded it, accompanied Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
“in the Park” and at Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle, southeast of Maidstone, Kent, England, dates back to 1119, though a Saxon fort stood on the same site from the 9th century. The castle is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds....
, remixed Beatles numbers, and performed before HM The Queen for the 50th Anniversary of VE Day.
In December 1997 the Chorus celebrated its 40th Birthday with its patron HRH The Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
in attendance at a Gala performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
, followed three days later by a performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the same conductor. During this period the Chorus performed for the first time with Valery Gergiev
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
and Sir Mark Elder
Mark Elder
Sir Mark Philip Elder, CBE is a British conductor. He is the music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England.-Biography:Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the son of a dentist...
. Foreign tours took place to Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, its first visit to the US (to Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
), and in 2000 the Chorus was invited to perform for Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
on his 80th birthday. A tour of UK and the Continent with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and has its headquarters at Kings Place...
with Sir Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
culminated in BBC2‘s Millennium Concert broadcast from Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
. In autumn 2002 the Chorus joined the orchestra and chorus of Norddeutscher Rundfunk and the BBC Singers
BBC Singers
The BBC Singers are the professional chamber choir of the BBC. As one of six BBC Performing Groups, the 24-voiced choir has been in existence for more than 80 years. The BBC Singers have commissioned and premiered works by the leading composers of the past century, including Benjamin Britten, Sir...
in the presence of the President of Germany Johannes Rau
Johannes Rau
Johannes Rau was a German politician of the SPD. He was President of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004, and Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998.-Education and work:...
and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
for a concert of reconciliation, Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
, performed in the Turbine Hall of the former Nazi rocket development factory in Peenemünde
Peenemünde
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....
, north Germany.
In 2004, following a semi-staged concert performance of Weber
Weber
Weber is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning "weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'.Notable people with the surname include:...
’s Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
the previous year, Sir Charles Mackerras agreed to become the Chorus’s first President. June 2007 saw the Philharmonia Chorus celebrate its 50th Anniversary with a performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti in the presence of its Patron HRH The Prince of Wales. In Autumn 2008 Edward Caswell took over as Artistic Director, and trained the Chorus for a performance of Bernstein
Bernstein
Bernstein is a German and Jewish surname meaning "amber". The German pronunciation is , but in English it is often . It may refer to:-People:* Dan Bern , American musician who previously performed under the name Bernstein...
’s Kaddish Symphony in London’s Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
conducted by John Axelrod in a concert to mark the 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
.
Recent developments
In 2010 the Chorus launched its Professional Singers Scheme, through which professional singers in the early years of their careers join the Chorus as members. The first concert employing beneficiaries of the Scheme took place in February 2010 in London’s Royal Festival Hall, a performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Eliahu InbalEliahu Inbal
Eliahu Inbal is an Israeli conductor.Inbal studied violin at the Israeli Academy of Music and took composition lessons with Paul Ben-Haim...
, a noted Mahler specialist. This was soon followed by the first broadcast performance, in the chapel of King’s College Cambridge, of James MacMillan’s recently composed Passion According to St John, performed in the presence of the composer.
2010 has also seen the Philharmonia Chorus return to its tradition of German musical training with the appointment as Chorus Master of Stefan Bevier from Berlin, a former player with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic, German: , formerly Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the...
, a singer and conductor.
Chorus Masters
1957-1971 Wilhelm Pitz1971-1975 Walter Hagen-Groll
1975-1980 Norbert Balatsch
1980-1983 Heinz Mende
1984-1992 Horst Neumann
1992-1998 David Hill
David Hill (choral director)
David Hill , is a choral conductor and organist. His most high profile roles are as Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007, and Musical Director of The Bach Choir from April 1998. He was previously Organist and Director of Music at St John's College, Cambridge, in succession to...
1998-2007 Robert Dean (Artistic Director)
2008-2010 Edward Caswell (Artistic Director)
2010- Stefan Bevier
Accompanists
The Chorus has had three Accompanists: first, Viola Tunnard, followed in 1962 by her duet partner Martin Penny, both collaborators with Britten at AldeburghAldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
. Since 1984, the Chorus has had as its Accompanist Stephen Rose, Senior Coach at the Opera department of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and of the National Opera Studio in London.
Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
KG, KT, PC, GCM, OM
Chairman: Richard Harding
Accompanist: Stephen Rose