Editing Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (section)

===1961–2000===
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|Gentlemen, there are four other orchestras in London; you can always go and work for them.
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|source=<small>Lady Beecham to RPO members, 1963<ref name=lives>"Lives Remembered", ''The Times'', 2 October 2003, p. 41</ref></small>
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[[Rudolf Kempe]], who had been appointed associate conductor in 1960, became principal conductor in 1961 and music director in 1962.<ref>[http://www.rpo.co.uk/rpo_conductor.php?cid=17 "Rudolf Kempe"], Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved 2 June 2013</ref> Beecham's widow{{#tag:ref|Shirley, ''née'' Hudson, Beecham's third wife and former secretary, whom he married in 1959, a year after Betty Humby Beecham died.<ref>Reid (1961), p. 241</ref>|group= n}} ran the affairs of the orchestra as best she could, but some senior players including Brymer and MacDonagh were unhappy with the management and they left.<ref name=lives/> The orchestra reorganised itself in 1963 as a self-governing limited company, but almost immediately encountered difficulties.<ref>Peacock, p. 9</ref> The Royal Philharmonic Society decided not to engage the RPO for its concerts; Glyndebourne booked the LPO instead of the RPO from 1964 onwards. The RPO was also excluded from the London Orchestral Concert Board's schedule of concerts, which meant that it was denied the use of London's main concert venue, the [[Royal Festival Hall]]. Kempe resigned, although he returned shortly afterwards. Helped by strong support from [[Malcolm Sargent|Sir Malcolm Sargent]], the orchestra successfully mounted its own concerts at a cinema in [[Swiss Cottage]], {{convert|3.5|mi}} to the north-west of the Festival Hall.<ref>Reid (1968), pp. 429–434</ref> A 1965 report to the [[Arts Council]] by a committee chaired by [[Alan T. Peacock|Alan Peacock]] recommended that all four independent London orchestras should receive adequate public subsidy.<ref name=c6>Cardus et al, p. 6</ref>

The severance of the tie with the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1963 turned out to be temporary,{{#tag:ref|The RPS resumed its association with the orchestra from the 1966–67 season.<ref>Potts, p. 11</ref>|group= n}} but for three years it threatened to deprive the RPO of the "Royal" in its title. The matter was resolved in 1966, when, on the advice of [[Roy Jenkins]] who, as [[Home Secretary]], had responsibility for such matters, [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]] conferred the title unconditionally on the orchestra.<ref>"Orchestra Wins Royal Fight", ''The Times'', 16 July 1966, p. 12</ref>

[[File:Clifford-Curzon.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Clifford Curzon]], soloist at the RPO's Silver Jubilee concert]]
The RPO celebrated its [[silver jubilee]] in 1971. On 15 September, the orchestra returned to Croydon, where it had made its debut 25 years earlier. The theatre in which it had first played had been demolished and the anniversary concert was therefore given at the [[Fairfield Halls]]. The programme consisted of the overture to ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'', [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)|''Emperor'']] Concerto, and [[Gustav Holst|Holst]]'s ''[[The Planets]]''. [[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]] conducted, and [[Clifford Curzon]] was the soloist.<ref>Cardus et al, pp. 12–13</ref> Five members of the original orchestra were still in the RPO for the jubilee concert: Leonard Brain (brother of Dennis), principal cor anglais; Lewis Pocock, co-principal timpani; Ernest Ineson, double bass; John Myers, viola; and Albert Pievsky, violin.<ref name=c6/>

The RPO gave Kempe the title of "Conductor for Life" in 1970.  Kempe stepped down from the orchestra in 1975, the year before his death.  [[Antal Doráti]] succeeded Kempe as chief conductor from 1975 to 1978.  As in his earlier spells with the LSO and BBC Symphony Orchestra, he was not greatly liked by his players, but raised their standard of playing and imposed discipline.<ref>"Great Orchestra's Predicament", ''The Times'', 28 June 1963, p. 18; and "Antal Dorati", ''The Times'', 16 November 1988, p. 18</ref>

In 1984, a new threat to the orchestra emerged, where a review carried out on behalf of the Arts Council by the journalist [[William Rees-Mogg]] opined that England lacked "a great eastern symphony orchestra": the suggestion was that the RPO should move to [[Nottingham]]. Another Arts Council report of the same period recommended that the RPO should supplement the LSO as resident orchestra at the [[Barbican Centre]]; neither proposal came to fruition.<ref>Morrison, p 152</ref> During the 1980s, the British government imposed strict constraints on public spending; to make up for lost revenue, the RPO, in common with the other self-governing London orchestras, was forced into increased reliance on business sponsorship as a primary source of funds. The ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', recording this, comments, "Such sponsorship is, however, subject to changing circumstances and thus less secure in the long term."<ref>[[Nicholas Temperley|Temperley, Nicholas]], et al. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/16904pg7  "London (i)]", ''[[Grove Music Online]]'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 8 June 2013 {{subscription required}}</ref>

Since 1993, the RPO has had a community and education programme, later given the title of "RPO Resound". It aims to increase "access to and engagement with world-class music-making."<ref name=about/> It has worked in venues including homeless shelters, hospices, youth clubs and prisons.<ref name=about>[http://www.rpo.co.uk/history.php "About the orchestra"], Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved 4 June 2013</ref>

On 7 April 1994, the RPO, with guest leader [[Hugh Bean]], was joined by the [[Cappella Giulia]] of Saint Peter's Basilica and the [[Accademia Filarmonica Romana]], cellist [[Lynn Harrell]] and actor [[Richard Dreyfuss]], in the [[Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah]], conducted by [[Gilbert Levine]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Tagliabue|first=John|date=April 8, 1994|title=Holocaust Lamentations Echo at Vatican|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/08/world/holocaust-lamentations-echo-at-vatican.html}}</ref> This concert was attended by [[Pope John Paul II]], Chief Rabbi of Rome [[Elio Toaff]], and President of Italy [[Oscar Luigi Scalfaro]], and was broadcast throughout Europe via Eurovision and on [[PBS]] stations throughout the United States. It was released on CD by Justice Records<ref>{{Cite web|title=Audio CD: Papal Concert to Commemorate Holocaust|website=Amazon|url=https://www.amazon.com/Papal-Concert-Commemorate-Holocaust/dp/B01KARVHAO}}</ref> and as video by Time-Warner.<ref>{{Cite book|title=VHS: Papal Concert to Commemorate the Holocaust|asin=6303277020}}</ref>