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London Philharmonic Orchestra

[b]Not to be confused with [a454293].[/b] [b]For recordings made & released by or licensed from [l=Westminster] in the late 1950s with (mostly) [a=Artur Rodzinski] conducting, please check [a=Philharmonic Symphony Of London][/b]. Excerpts from Wikipedia: The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras. The founders' ambition was to build an orchestra the equal of any European or American rival. Between 1932 and the Second World War the LPO was widely judged to have succeeded in this regard. Unlike its London rivals the RPO and the Philharmonia, the post-war LPO was not exclusively associated with one company, and as well as Decca it recorded for Philips, CBS, RCA, Chandos and many other labels. The orchestra has been associated with the Royal Festival Hall since its opening in 1951, and has been its Resident Orchestra since 1992. In the 1960s and 1970s the orchestra was particularly associated with Lyrita, an independent company specialising in neglected British repertoire. In most LPO recordings for Lyrita the conductor was Boult; in the same period he also recorded extensively for EMI, with the LPO his preferred orchestra. For some years in the 1950s and 1960s the orchestra was contracted to two companies at once, and consequently appeared under the name "The Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra" in some of its recordings.