LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa, Moniuszko Auditorium

Regarded as one of the leading orchestras in the world, it is the oldest of London’s symphonic orchestras. It was established in 1904 by a group of musicians who left the Queen’s Hall Orchestra when the management changed the rules of collaboration. For the first forty years the orchestra was organized on cooperative lines, with
all players sharing the profits at the end of each season. It underwent difficult times in the 1930s and 1950s when it began losing popularity to new orchestras emerging in London. By the 1960s it had recovered and consolidated its position, which it has retained to this day. As a self-governing body, the orchestra selects the conductors
with whom it works, and over the years it has worked with
the greatest of them. It has organized many festivals dedicated to great composers (Berlioz, Mahler, Bernstein). It has been making recordings since 1912, performs regularly on radio and television, has recorded soundtracks for over 200 films (including Star Wars, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). You can also hear the orchestra
in computer games and in-flight music programmes. Queen
Elizabeth II is the orchestra’s patron. The principal conductor is Valery Gergiev, the president – Sir Colin Davis. The principal guest conductors are Daniel Harding and Michael Tilson Thomas. Since 1982, the LSO has been the resident orchestra of the Barbican Centre in the City of London.