The year 1966 was a major watershed in the history of the London Symphony Orchestra. The oldest of London's full-sized orchestras, founded in 1904, it had never possessed a permanent venue of its own and had long been in uncertain financial and artistic shape. In that year, the Corporation of the City of London committed to building the new Barbican Arts Centre and chose the London Symphony Orchestra (which had seen a vast improvement in standards in a short time) as its permanent residential orchestra. Also in 1966, the London Symphony Chorus was formed as a complement to the...