National Philharmonic Orchestra


The National Philharmonic Orchestra was a British orchestra created exclusively for recording and reproduction|recording] purposes. It was founded by RCA Records producer and conductor Charles Gerhardt and orchestra leader and contractor Sidney Sax. The orchestra was created partly due to the requirements of an extensive recording project for the Reader's Digest.

History

Before settling on this name, the orchestra began operation in 1964 using a variety of names including RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra and the London Promenade. In 1971, the orchestra was incorporated as the National Philharmonic Orchestra by Sidney Sax. Musicians from London's huge talent pool were contracted by Gerhardt and Sax. By way of example, the violin section would routinely be peppered with leaders / concertmasters of all the major London orchestras, past and present, such as John Ronayne, Bela Dekany, Lionel Bentley, Derek Jacobs, John Ludlow, John Brown, Donald Weekes, Irvine Arditti, Charles Meinardi, Hans Geiger, etc.
The orchestra recorded exclusively for RCA Records until Decca Records began recording the orchestra in March, 1974. This was for a Phase 4 Stereo recording of the Yellow River Piano Concerto conducted by Elgar Howarth. Columbia Records began using the orchestra for recordings in 1975.
Several conductors, such as Leopold Stokowski, Riccardo Chailly, Richard Bonynge, Charles Gerhardt, Michael Kamen, Carlos Païta and Loris Tjeknavorian have made recordings with the orchestra. Bonynge recorded all three of Tchaikovsky's ballets for Decca. With producer George Korngold, Gerhardt made a series of stereo recordings of Hollywood film music with the orchestra for RCA Red Seal and Kamen recorded Eric Clapton's orchestral sessions from the 24 Nights concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in 1990 and 1991 for Duck Records. Carlos Païta recorded Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, Mussorgsky, Glinka, and Borodin for Lodia. In 1977, Tjeknavorian and the orchestra recorded Borodin's Symphony No. 2, In the Steppes of Central Asia, and opera Prince Igor for RCA Red Seal.
The orchestra has been featured on the soundtrack of many films as well as a selection of Star Wars suites from the John Williams catalogue. Bernard Herrmann regularly used the orchestra for recordings of his film work.
Kenneth Schermerhorn conducted the orchestra on the soundtrack of Baryshnikov's production The Nutcracker, a staging of Tchaikovsky's ballet which became a television classic, after being presented live onstage. The orchestra also provided the music for the stage production.

The National Philharmonic Orchestra has since been disbanded.

Film music

Some of the film scores recorded in England and performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra:The Blue Max Justine album re-recording; not the film recording.The Last Run The Exorcist Ransom High Velocity Barry Lyndon The [Man Who Would Be King (film)|The Man Who Would Be King] Paper Tiger Take a Hard Ride Grizzly Obsession Pony Express Rider The Pink Panther Strikes Again The Omen trilogy Providence Jesus of Nazareth March or Die Valentino Holocaust The Wild Geese Revenge of the Pink Panther The [Boys from Brazil (film)|The Boys from Brazil] Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? The One Man Jury The Great Train Robbery Jaguar Lives! Alien Mountain Family Robinson Caboblanco The Changeling Mama Dracula The Sea Wolves The Elephant Man Windwalker Outland Roar Night Crossing Pink Floyd – The Wall The Secret of NIMH First Blood Trail of the Pink Panther The Wicked Lady The [Dead Zone (film)|The Dead Zone] Mutant Supergirl The [Philadelphia Experiment (film)|The Philadelphia Experiment] Santa Claus: The Movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure Varese Sarabande album re-recording; not the film recording.Brazil Rambo: [First Blood Part II] Legend Revolution Link Sky Bandits Highlander Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Suspect The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Licence to Kill Total Recall Not [Without My Daughter (film)|Not Without My Daughter] Medicine Man Basic Instinct Mom and Dad Save the World The Public Eye Tom and Jerry: The Movie Matinee Malice Son of the Pink Panther Cliffhanger Bad Girls Powder The Ghost and the Darkness