# English Chamber Orchestra

The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra specializes in 18th-century music and was created to perform Baroque Music. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationally, and holds the distinction of having the most extensive discography of any chamber orchestra and being the most well-traveled orchestra in the world; no other orchestra has played concerts (as of 2013, according to its own publicity) in as many countries as the English Chamber Orchestra.

## History

The English Chamber Orchestra has its origins in the Goldsbrough Orchestra, founded in 1948 by Lawrence Leonard and Arnold Goldsbrough. The name was considered to prevent success outside of the UK and in 1960 it was changed to the English Chamber Orchestra, when Quintin Ballardie (a principal violinist with the original orchestra) invited Dr. Ursula Jones-Strebi to found and co-manage the new orchestra, where they also expanded its repertoire beyond the Baroque period for the first time. Its repertoire remained limited by the group's size, which has stayed fairly consistently at around the size of an orchestra of Mozart's time.
Shortly afterwards, it became closely associated with the Aldeburgh Festival, playing in the premieres of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), Owen Wingrave (1970), Curlew River and several other of his works. The occasions on which Britten conducted the orchestra included the opening concerts of the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Snape Maltings in 1967. He also made a number of records with the group.
The orchestra did not at this time have a principal conductor, but worked closely with a succession of guest conductors including Raymond Leppard, Colin Davis and Daniel Barenboim. In 1985 Jeffrey Tate was appointed the ensemble's first principal conductor. In 2000, Ralf Gothóni was appointed second principal conductor.
In June 2009, the English Chamber Orchestra named Paul Watkins its new music director, effective with the 2009–2010 season, for an initial contract of three years. The orchestra has also worked regularly with guest conductors Paul Goodwin, Lawrence Power and James Sherlock. In 2023, the orchestra appointed Roberto Forés Veses as Principal Guest Conductor. Having led the orchestra for over 30 years, Stephanie Gonley was recognised as Leader and Principal of the English Chamber Orchestra in 2023.

## Tours and performances

The orchestra has performed with and toured the UK and abroad with artists such as Kathleen Battle, Benjamin Britten, Daniel Barenboim, Dame Janet Baker, Colin Davis, Placido Domingo, Jacqueline du Pre, Sumi Jo, Kiri te Kanawa, Yehudi Menuhin, Luciano Pavarotti, Murray Perahia, Itzhak Perlman, Andre Previn, Karl Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Georg Solti, Joan Sutherland, Mitsuko Uchida, Maxim Vengerov and Pinchas Zukerman. Recent tours have included Bermuda, USA, Mexico, Finland, France, Turkey, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
HRH the former Prince of Wales has been the Patron of the ECO since 1977 and the orchestra has performed at royal weddings, birthday celebrations and other events including the first concert ever to be broadcast from Buckingham Palace.
In 2023 members of the orchestra were selected to play at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.

## Select recordings
### Symphonies

* Beethoven, 9 Symphonies under Michael Tilson Thomas, Sony Classical (compilation, 2020)
* Haydn, Symphonies 22, 39, 47 (1968), 48 & 70 (1971), 26, 34, 77 (1972), under Raymond Leppard, Philips
* Haydn, Symphonies 94, 101 (1981), 94, 100 (1995), 101, 104 (1994), under Jean-François Paillard, RCA
* Haydn, Symphonies 93, 96, 98 - 104, under Jeffrey Tate, EMI (1986, 1992, 1997, 1999)
* Haydn, Symphonies 44, 45, 48, 49, under Daniel Barenboim, Deutsche Grammophon (1979, compilation, 2012)
* Mozart, Symphonies 25, 29, 38 & 40, under Benjamin Britten, Decca (1978) recipient of Gramophone Award
* Mozart, Symphonies 1 - 41, under Jeffrey Tate, EMI (1990)
* Mozart, Symphonies 39, 40, 41, under Jean-François Paillard, RCA (1994)
* Mozart, Symphonies 29, 30, 31, 34, 38 & 39, under Daniel Barenboim, EMI (2007)

### Concertos

* Albinoni, Franceschini, Rathgeber, Telemann, Vivaldi, Trumpet Concertos, with Hannes, Wolfgang & Bernhard Läubin under Simon Preston, Deutsche Grammophone (1992)
* Bach, Brandenburg Concertos 1 - 6, under Benjamin Britten, Decca (1969)
* Bach, The Brandenburg Concertos, under Johannes Somary, Vanguard (2008)
* Bach, Violin Concertos, with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Salvatore Accardo, EMI (1983)
* Bach, Violin Concertos, with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman under Daniel Barenboim, EMI (1986)
* Bach, Violin Concertos and Triple Concerto, with Arthur Grumiaux under Raymond Leppard, Philips (1964)
* Beethoven, Violin Concerto, with Frank Peter Zimmermann under Jeffrey Tate, EMI (1988)
* Biber, Pachelbel, Telemann, Vivaldi, Baroque music for trumpets , with Wynton Marsalis under Raymond Lappard, Sony (1988)
* Handel, Twelve Grand Concertos, under Raymond Leppard, Philips (1968)
* Haydn, Cello Concerto, with Mstislav Rostropovich under Benjamin Britten, Decca (1964)
* Haydn, Boccherini, Cello Concertos, with Jacqueline Du Pré under Daniel Barenboim, EMI (1967)
* Haydn, Cello Concertos, with Yo-Yo Ma, Sony Classical (1986)
* Haydn, C. P. E. Bach, Boccherini, Cello Concertos with Matt Haimovitz under Andrew Davis, Deutsche Grammophon (1990)
* Haydn, Boccherini, Cello Concertos, with Lluís Claret under George Malcolm, Harmonica Mundi (1992)
* Mendelssohn, Bruch, Violin Concertos, with Nigel Kennedy under Jeffrey Tate, EMI (1988)
* Mozart, Complete Piano Concertos, with Murray Perahia as pianist and conductor (Sony, compilation 2012). Recipient of Gramophone Award.
* Mozart, Complete Piano Concertos, with Daniel Barenboim as pianist and conductor (Warner Classics, compilation 2016)
* Mozart, Complete Piano Concertos, with Mitsuko Uchida under Jeffrey Tate, Philips (Decca, compilation 2006)
* Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 19 & 24, with Maurizio Pollini as pianist and conductor (1982)
* Mozart, Violin Concertos No. 3 & 5, with Joshua Bell under Peter Maag (1992)
* Mozart, Sinfonia Concertante, with Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman under Daniel Barenboim, Columbia Masterworks (1972)
* Mozart, Myslivecek, Flute Concertos. Ana de la Vega. PENTATONE PTC 5186723 (2018)
* Mozart, Concertone For 2 Violins, Oboe & Violoncello, under Sir Colin Davis, London Records (1961)
* Mozart, Flute Concertos, with Karlheinz Zöller under Bernhard Klee, Deutsche Grammophon (1974)
* Mozart, Clarinet Concerto, with Richard Stoltzman under Alexander Schneider, RCA (1981)
* Mozart, Horn Concertos 1-4, with Barry Tuckwell as horn player and conductor, Decca (1984)
* Vivaldi, Four Seasons, with Nigel Kennedy as violinist and conductor, EMI (1997)
* Vivaldi, Four Seasons, with Pinchas Zukerman as violinist and conductor (1987, 1988, 1996)

### Opera, Cantatas, Songs and Arias

* The Beautiful Voice (works by Gounod, Lehár, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Strauss) with Renée Fleming as soloist under Jeffrey Tate, Decca (1998)
* Bel Canto (works by Bellini, Puccini, Rossini and Verdi) with Sumi Jo under Giuliano Carella, Erato (1997)
* Canteloube, Chants D'Auvergne, with Kiri Te Kanawa under Jeffrey Tate, Decca (1983, 1984)
* Donizetti, L'Elisir D'Amore, with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Dominic Cossa, Spiro Malas, Maria Casula under Richard Bonynge, London Records (1971)
* Gluck, Arias, with Janet Baker under Raymond Leppard, Philips (1975)
* Handel, Cantatas, with Janet Baker under Raymond Leppard, Philips (1973)
* Handel, Semele, with Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, Samuel Ramey, John Aler, Sylvia McNair, Michael Chance and Ambrosian Opera Chorus under John Nelson, Deutsche Grammophon (1993)
* Mozart, Handel, Arias, with Lucia Popp under Georg Fischer, HMV (1967)
* Mozart, Arias, with Kiri Te Kanawa under Jeffrey Tate, Philips (1987, 1988)
* Mozart, Opera & Concert Arias, with Barbara Hendricks under Jeffrey Tate, EMI (1984)
* Mozart, Don Giovanni, with Joan Sutherland, Pilar Lorengar, Marilyn Horne, Gabriel Bacquier, Werner Krenn, Donald Gramm, and Ambrosian Opera Chorus under Richard Bonynge, London Records (1971)
* Mozart, Le Nozze Di Figaro, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and other soloists under Daniel Barenboim, EMI (1977)
* Rossini, Il Signor Bruschino, with Kathleen Battle, Samuel Ramey, Frank Lopardo, Claudio Desderi under Ion Marin, Deutsche Grammophone (1993)