Leonard Bernstein: The Symphony Edition

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — The legacy of Leonard Bernstein – as a conductor, composer, and music advocate – in the history of twentieth-century American music can hardly be overstated. In this anniversary year, Sony Classical presents Leonard Bernstein: the Symphony Edition – specially created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his death, available November 22, 2010.

“My brother, sister and I grew up surrounded by the sounds of the music our father performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic and various other orchestras around the world. Along the way, these performances and recordings imbued us with a deep understanding and love for this rich repertoire. It was always our hope that the multitude of symphonic recordings our father made over the course of his extraordinary career could be gathered together, to serve as an essential body of reference for all those with an interest in classical music: students, teachers, the curious and the fanatical. We were sure that by having access to the totality of these outstanding recordings, any music lover could feel they were in the possession of a truly comprehensive resource – not to mention a trove of beauty. And now, thanks to Sony, our dream has come true. This superbly assembled set of our father’s symphonic recordings is sure to give the world the same sense we grew up with: that this repertoire was at our fingertips – always available, always beautiful, and in the finest possible renditions.”

-Jamie Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein’s daughter

Leonard Bernstein: the Symphony Edition is a 60-CD set that includes all of Bernstein’s symphonic recordings – fifty-seven of them recorded with the New York Philharmonic from 1953 to 1976, during his historic years with the orchestra. Included are complete cycles of the Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Sibelius symphonies, as well as milestone recordings of Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony, Ives’s 2nd Symphony, and Haydn’s “Paris” and “London” Symphonies. The complete set allows listeners to experience the magnificent world of the symphony in all its variety and provides a fascinating document of a great conductor and composer at the height of his career.

The limited edition box set presents each disc in an individually repackaged design with sixty stunning pictures of the maestro. Leonard Bernstein: the Symphony Edition also includes a large-format book with extensive essays by Klaus Geitel, a prominent German journalist and renowned German musicologist, Wolfgang Stahr.

                          Leonard Bernstein: The Symphony Edition

                                CATALOG NUMBER: 88697683652

    LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN     KARL GOLDMARK           CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
    Nos. 1 - 9               Rustic Wedding Symphony No. 3

    HECTOR BERLIOZ           ROY HARRIS              FRANZ SCHUBERT
    Symphonie fantastique    No. 3                   Nos. 5 * 8 * 9

    LEONARD BERNSTEIN         JOSEPH HAYDN           ROBERT SCHUMANN
    No. 1 Jeremiah           Nos. 82 - 88 * 93 - 104 Nos. 1 - 4
    No. 2 The Age of Anxiety
    No. 3 Kaddish

    GEORGES BIZET            PAUL HINDEMITH          WILLIAM SCHUMAN
    Symphony in C            Symphony in E flat      Nos. 3 * 5 * 8

    MARC BLITZSTEIN          CHARLES IVES            HAROLD SHAPERO
                                                      Symphony for Classical
    The Airborne Symphony    No. 2                    Orchestra

    JOHANNES BRAHMS          FRANZ LISZT             IGOR STRAVINSKY
    Nos. 1 - 4               A Faust Symphony        Symphony of Psalms

    ANTON BRUCKNER           GUSTAV MAHLER           DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
    No. 9                    Nos. 1 - 9  Adagio      Nos. 1 * 5 - 7 * 9 * 14

    CARLOS CHAVEZ            FELIX MENDELSSOHN       JEAN SIBELIUS
    Sinfonia India           Nos. 3 - 5              Nos. 1 - 7

    AARON COPLAND            WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART PETER TCHAIKOVSKY
    Symphony for Organ and
     Orchestra No. 3         Nos. 3 * 36 * 39 - 41   Nos. 1 - 6

    DAVID DIAMOND            CARL NIELSEN            RANDALL THOMPSON
    No. 4                    Nos. 2 - 5              No. 2

    ANTONIN DVORAK           SERGEI PROKOFIEV        RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
    Nos. 7 * 9               Nos. 1 * 5              No. 4

    CESAR FRANCK             ALBERT ROUSSEL
    Symphony in D minor      No. 3

SOURCE Sony Classical