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Although he has a solid reputation as a conductor of the standard repertory, Matthias Bamert is best known for his work on behalf of new music, obscure 18th century music, and neglected music from all eras (especially in a long series of recordings for Chandos). He is also known for his participation in provocative classical music videos directed by Adrian Marthaler. Bamert studied music in his native Switzerland, as well as in Darmstadt and Paris, falling in with the likes of Boulez and Stockhausen; these associations can be detected in his own compositions from the 1970s. He spent from 1965 to 1969 as principal oboist with the Salzburg Mozart Orchestra, but then switched to conducting. He assisted Stokowski at the American Symphony Orchestra in 1970 and 1971, then joined the Cleveland Orchestra's conducting staff. He was music director of the Swiss Radio Orchestra (1977-1983), then began making a wider reputation across Europe. He was principal guest conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra from 1985 to 1990. Bamert served as artistic director of the Lucerne Festival (1992-1998) (where he made inroads in thematic programming) and of the London Mozart Players (1993-2000). In 2000, he became principal guest conductor of the New Zealand Symphony. Bamert is known to be a quick study, able to master new scores in very little time, and bring off highly effective premieres in concert and on CD. His most notable recordings include symphonies of Gossec, concert music by Korngold, the orchestral works of Martin, and a series devoted to Stokowski arrangements.

London's Philharmonia Orchestra is generally considered one of Britain's top symphonic ensembles and has sometimes been named as the very best. Formed by recording executive Walter Legge at the end of World War II, the orchestra benefited from the presence of several top Continental conductors in its first years and has generated an impressive recording catalog from the very beginning. Although London already boasted the world-class London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestras, Legge resolved to create an ensemble that would equal the best in the German-speaking musical sphere. To this end, he recruited top young musicians (some 60 percent of the players were still serving in the British armed forces at the beginning) and, after he was turned down by friend Thomas Beecham, a roster of star German conductors. These included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Richard Strauss, Herbert von Karajan, and Otto Klemperer. At first, Legge avoided the appointment of a permanent conductor, and the players learned to produce superb results under several different kinds of artistic leadership.

Primarily a recording ensemble at first, the Philharmonia began giving concerts that were often innovative in content. The young Leonard Bernstein recorded Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major with the group, and the orchestra gave the world premiere of Strauss' Four Last Songs with soloist Kirsten Flagstad in 1950 at the Royal Albert Hall. In the mid-'50s, Furtwängler died and Karajan departed for Berlin; Legge appointed the 74-year-old Klemperer conductor for life. Klemperer's performances were often idiosyncratic but just as often brilliant, and many of his recordings with the Philharmonia remain in print. A complete cycle of Brahms symphonies under Klemperer was reissued by the firm Broken Audio in the 2010s.

The orchestra ran into trouble in the early 1960s as financial problems arose and several of its best musicians, including hornist Dennis Brain, met untimely deaths. Legge attempted to disband the group in 1964, but the players, encouraged by Klemperer, formed the New Philharmonia Orchestra and continued to perform. The orchestra performed at the Beethoven bicentennial in Bonn, West Germany, in 1970. That year, Lorin Maazel was appointed associate principal conductor to reduce the workload of the aging Klemperer, but he clashed with the orchestra members, who had maintained a self-governing structure. Instead, Riccardo Muti was appointed chief conductor in 1973. Four years later, the original name was restored.

Under Muti, the orchestra often recorded opera and entered upon what was widely regarded as a second golden age. In 1981, under conductor Kurt Sanderling, the Philharmonia made the first digital recording of Beethoven's complete symphonies. Muti was succeeded in 1984 by Giuseppe Sinopoli, whose performances of key British repertory such as the works of Elgar were criticized, but who extended the orchestra's reach in Italian opera. Christoph von Dohnányi ascended the podium in 1997 and took the orchestra on tours of continental Europe and, in 2002 and 2003, to a residency in New York. Bicontinental Finnish conducting star Esa-Pekka Salonen became chief conductor in 2008 and has continued to maintain the orchestra's high standards; his departure was announced for the year 2021, creating an opening at the very top level of English music-making. The Philharmonia continued to record for EMI after Legge's departure but moved to Deutsche Grammophon under Sinopoli and has since recorded for a large variety of labels. In 2019, the Philharmonia backed innovative Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen on her debut release, with Salonen conducting. ~ James Manheim

Bass, baritone, and bass-baritone David Wilson-Johnson has performed internationally and has made notable recordings of contemporary works. For many years, he was equally devoted to opera, concert music, and art song, and he is exceptionally prolific as a recording artist.

Wilson-Johnson was born in Northampton, England, on November 16, 1950. He attended the nearby Wellingborough school. Wilson-Johnson went on to St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he studied modern and medieval languages; his skill with languages has remained with him as he has sung music in Russian, French, German, Italian, and English. Wilson-Johnson's vocal training took place mostly at the Royal Academy of Music in London; there, he won the Dove Prize for most distinguished student. Wilson-Johnson made his professional opera debut at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in 1976 in Hans Werner Henze's We Come to the River. That set the pattern for two aspects of Wilson-Johnson's career, which has been focused on but not exclusively devoted to contemporary music and which has entailed frequent appearances at the Royal Opera House. At the beginning of his career, Wilson-Johnson was a member of the BBC Singers, the Monteverdi Choir, and other prominent British choirs. An early digital recording by Wilson-Johnson appeared on the Archiv Produktion label in 1987 and featured Haydn's Mass in D minor ("Lord Nelson"), H. 22/11.

Wilson-Johnson's career has been notable for its variety, and he has sung roles traditionally designated as for bass, bass-baritone, and baritone. He has appeared at many of the world's major opera houses, singing under conductors as diverse as Pierre Boulez, Gustav Leonhardt, Simon Rattle, and André Previn. His repertory ranges from Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte to the title role in Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise, with an emphasis on 20th century works. Wilson-Johnson has been in demand as a concert singer, performing, among many other works, Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45, at Carnegie Hall in New York under Previn. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011, Wilson-Johnson performed in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ("Choral"), under conductor Leonard Slatkin at the Last Night of the Proms in London. In song repertory, he performs in many languages and has been associated with pianist David Owen Norris since his student days. Wilson-Johnson has made more than 200 recordings, not all of them in the classical field; he has appeared on recordings by Mike Oldfield and other pop artists. Wilson-Johnson has remained active into old age, and he appeared in 2024 on a newly released 1997 recording of Havergal Brian's opera The Cenci on the Toccata Classics label. ~ James Manheim

EMI record producer Walter Legge founded the Philharmonia Orchestra after World War II to serve as his own recording orchestra. In, when planning a recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the direction of Otto Klemperer, Legge in 1957 founded the Philharmonia Chorus to sing in those sessions and in the public concert associated with it.

The 250-voice amateur chorus, chosen and rehearsed meticulously, immediately set a new high standard for large British choral groups, and continued in existence to provide choral singing for Legge projects.

In 1964 Legge "suspended" the Philharmonia. He intended this to be the end of both the orchestra and the chorus, but both organizations, separately, met to reconstitute themselves as self-governing organizations. Initially, Legge refused to let these new organizations carry on under the name they had made famous. Like the orchestra, the chorus went by the name The New Philharmonia. It reverted to use of the name The Philharmonia Chorus in 1977.

The members of the chorus elect a council, all of whose members must be active singers in the chorus. The council members are generally chosen for their professional expertise in such fields as law and administration, travel, public relations, and marketing. This keeps administrative costs low. The chorus holds itself available for concert organizations and promoters who wish to engage it.

Despite its close ties with the Philharmonia, the chorus and the orchestra are in fact separate bodies, allowing the chorus to perform with other organizations. It has sung with the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. It has frequently taken tours, and has sung on numerous recordings. During this time, it has retained its position as one of the finest large amateur choirs in the world.

Though he began his career ostensibly as an organist, David Hill emerged as one of the most important English choral conductors from the turn of the 21st century. Hill has also conducted orchestras, notably the Philharmonia and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, but it is his choral work, particularly with regard to the music of Spanish Renaissance composers and that of 19th and 20th century English composers, that has afforded him his greatest triumphs.

Hill was born in Carlisle, England, on May 13, 1957. He was a gifted child, studying organ at Chetham's Music School in Manchester, where at 14, he also developed an interest in conducting. At the Royal College of Organists, three years later, he was made a fellow. He went on to study at St. John's, Cambridge, under George Guest. Other important teachers included Gillian Weir and Peter Hurford. After his graduation from St. John's, Hill's career quickly advanced with a prestigious series of important posts: he served as sub-organist at Durham Cathedral (1980-1982), music director of the Alexandra Choir (1980-1987), master of music at Westminster Cathedral (1982), organist and master of music at Winchester Cathedral (1987-2002), and then music director of the Waynflete Singers (1987-2002).

Amid all this activity, Hill was busy in the recording studio, as well: his series of Tomás Luis de Victoria albums for Hyperion began to appear in 1983 with the release O Quam gloriosum, with Hill leading the Westminster Choir. A year before taking his Winchester and Waynflete posts, Hill was appointed associate conductor of the Philharmonia Chorus. Later, he would serve as its artistic director until 1997. In 1998, Hill became the music director of the Bach Choir. Hill continued to turn out recordings throughout the '80s and '90s and into the new century, championing little-known works, as with the three volumes of Charles Villiers Stanford choral pieces on Hyperion (1997), as well as repertory staples like Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli on the same label (1993). In 2003, Hill donned his organist's cap when he appeared as a soloist on the Regis Records' album Cathedral Organ Classics.

From 2003 until 2007, Hill was the music director at St. John's College, Cambridge. He served as chief conductor of the BBC Singers from 2007 until 2017. In 2013, Hill was named the principal conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum. He remained prolifically active in the new century, leading the various groups with which he has been associated and often issuing several albums a year. In 2019, Hill could be found on several releases, including Handel's Messiah with the BBC Singers on Resonus and Heinrich Schütz's The Christmas Story with the Yale Schola Cantorum on Hyperion. By 2023, when he issued the album Peter Warlock: Maltworms and Milkmaids with the BBC Singers on the EM Records label, Hill could boast a recording catalog including some 100 items. ~ TiVo Staff