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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

One of the leading conductors from the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Andrew Davis conducted symphonic and operatic repertory with equal distinction and received praise for his performances of the music of British composers, particularly the works of Vaughan Williams, Elgar, and especially Michael Tippett. Davis was the conductor laureate of the Toronto, BBC, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.

Davis was born on February 2, 1944, in Ashridge, Hertfordshire, England. He took to the keyboard early on, and his first serious studies came with his enrollment at the Royal College of Music in London, followed by further instruction at King's College, Cambridge, where he excelled in organ performance and scholarship. The young Davis was gradually drawn toward conducting, studying at Rome's Academy of St. Cecilia with Franco Ferrara. His first major position came in 1970 when he was appointed associate conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for two years.

Davis' ascent toward international recognition came quickly in the years that followed: he became the principal guest conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in 1974 and the following year was appointed music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. During his 13-year tenure in Toronto, Davis led many successful tours abroad and made a series of celebrated recordings, including those of Handel's Messiah with soloists Florence Quivar, Kathleen Battle, and Samuel Ramey, and Janácek's Taras Bulba and The Cunning Little Vixen Suite. When he left the Toronto Symphony in 1988, it is generally agreed that Davis had noticeably improved the ensemble and greatly enhanced its international reputation. He became the conductor laureate of the Toronto Symphony when he stepped down.

In 1988, Davis accepted the directorship of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The following year, Davis married soprano Gianna Rolandi, to whom he was married until her death in 2021; the couple had one son, Edward, born in 1989. That year, Davis was appointed chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. With the BBC Symphony, he led successful tours abroad, including to Hong Kong, the U.S., and three excursions to Japan. Davis' recordings with the BBC Symphony included a variety of works from various periods, but among contemporary composers, he tended to favor the British, issuing recordings of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle (The Mask of Orpheus), David Sawer (Byrnan Wood), and others. In the 1990s, Davis also gave concerts and made recordings with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and several others. In addition, he conducted operatic performances at the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera, where his rendition of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes was critically acclaimed.

In 1999, Davis was knighted, and in 2000, he departed his BBC Symphony Orchestra and Glyndebourne posts. He then accepted the appointment of music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Davis' performances in Chicago included Wagner's Ring Cycle, Massenet's Thaïs (with Renée Fleming), and Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage. During this time, Davis was heard on a number of recordings, including The Very Best of Thomas Hampson (2005), The Last Night of the Proms (2008), and 100 Best Tenor Arias (2009).

Davis was the chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2013 until 2019, leading that group in a three-volume series of the orchestral works of Charles Ives. He served as conductor laureate for the BBC Symphony and Melbourne Symphony after leaving his chief conductor posts. In 2016, Davis led the Toronto Symphony on a recording of his arrangement of Handel's Messiah on Chandos. Davis recorded prolifically throughout the 2010s and into the 2020s as an exclusive artist with Chandos; among these recordings is a survey of Eugene Goossens' orchestral works with the Melbourne Symphony, the third volume of which was issued in 2020. That year, he was also heard on a performance of Massenet's Thais, leading the Toronto Symphony. His tenure with the Lyric Opera concluded in 2021, and he was succeeded by Enrique Mazzola. That year, Davis conducted the London Symphony on a recording of Robert Simpson's Symphony No. 5. Davis was diagnosed with leukemia in 2022 and died on April 20, 2024. ~ TiVo Staff