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Founded in 1960, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (= OPRL; English: Liège Royal Philharmonic) is French-speaking Belgium’s only professional symphony orchestra. Supported by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Belgium’s French-speaking Community), the City of Liège and the Province of Liège, the OPRL performs in Liège - in the prestigious setting of the Salle Philharmonique (inaugurated in 1887), throughout Belgium, as well as in prestigious con cert halls and at major festivals around Europe, Japan and the USA. OPRL engagements in 2021 include a residency at the Malta International Music Festival.
Moulded by its founder, Fernand Quinet, and by its Music Directors (Manuel Rosenthal, Paul Strauss, Pierre Bartholomée, Louis Langrée, Pascal Rophé, François-Xavier Roth and Christian Arming), the OPRL has developed an orchestral sound at the crossroads of the Germanic and French traditions. Since September 2019 this has been main tained under Gergely Madaras. The OPRL combines a determination to support new work and to promote the Franco-Belgian heritage - while also exploring new repertoire - with a recording policy that has resulted in more than 100 recordings, most of which have been widely acclaimed by the international press.
Recent additions to its discography include recordings of Respighi’s complete symphonic works (BIS) and works by Saint-Saëns (BIS), Bloch and Elgar (La Dolce Volta), Ysaÿe (Alpha), Franck (Fuga Libera, Musique en Wallonie), and Gabriel Dupont (Fuga Libera), as well as Contemporary Clarinet Concertos with Jean-Luc Votano (Fuga Libera), Heroes with Adrien La Marca (La Dolce Volta), and Amanda Favier (NoMadMusic).
The OPRL currently gives more than 80 concerts a year, of which half take place in Liège. Since 2000 it has also run the Salle Philharmonique in Liège and expanded the range of concerts there to include baroque music, world music, chamber music and major recitals on piano and organ.
For twenty years now, the OPRL has taken up the challenge of presenting the greatest music to the widest possible audience through original projects such as the “Music Factory”, “Les samedis en famille”, “Happy Hour!”, and “OPRL+” and specific series such as “Musiques anciennes” (early music), “Musiques du monde” (world music), “Piano 5 étoiles”, and “Orgue” (organ). Since 2016, it has benefited from a partnership with the Mezzo Live HD television channel (in Europe, Asia, and Canada).
The OPRL is also very much committed to the social role it plays throughout the year, taking music to audiences with little or no experience of classical culture. It makes a particular effort to reach young people, via activities in schools, thematic concerts (including “L’Orchestre à la portée des enfants”), and especially, since 2015, through the establishment of neighbourhood orchestras with the ReMuA association (El Sistema Liège). |
