bbc philharmonic orchestra

Dear Kage,

I assume, possibly wrongly, that you are outside the UK.The BBC presents an amazing range of programmes on Radio and TV that are, without being elitist, far from being dumbed down. 

The BBC Philharmonic is a radio studio orchestra that plays more outside the studio than within it, and has also made many great recordings for commercial release. Its reputation is of being the fastest orchestra in the World at rehearsing from sight reading to concert! But this does nothing to dimminish its immense musicianship, which rivals that of any orchestra in the world. 

More than ten years ago its name was changed from BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra to BBC Philharmonic, as a sort of recognition that it was not merely a provincial radio orchestra from Manchester, but rather a world class band that could be from any European Capitol City. Many, including myself, were disappointed by this name change! What is in a name? One does not judge a book by its cover!

It is highly unlikely that such a performance would be intended for commercial release on CD, but you may be able to stream it again on the BBC iplayer.

ATB from George

It is hard to predict what the BBC will produce as their Music Magazine CDs seems to have a random pattern (apart from Christmas) of broadcast recordings as I have recently been reminded when  ripping the tail end of my CD collection.  Vol 12 No 2 was a recording of the Golden Age of Hollywood recorded in 2003 featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra.  One that stood out in particular was Yehudi Menuhin performing a Brahms Violin Concerto (Vol 6 No 1) which was broadcast in 1943.  It seemed odd to listen to that for the first time through my SuperUniti at a level of sound quality that I assume is far better than most, if not all, of the audience at the time.  Certainly any concerns I thought I had pale into insignificance compared to those of the original audience.