LEONARD BERNSTEIN - THE PIANIST (11 CDS)

Sony Classical celebrates the 2018 centenary of Leonard Bernstein - one of the 20th century's most celebrated, multi-faceted and influential musicians - with a box set devoted to his complete RCA Victor and Columbia Masterworks recordings as pianist. All recordings in this 11 CDs original jacket collection have been newly remastered from the original analogue tapes using 24 bit / 192 kHz technology. It is a fitting tribute to the man whom Arthur Rubinstein called "the greatest pianist among conductors, the greatest conductor among composers, and the greatest composer among pianists."

His complete recordings as pianist for RCA Victor and Columbia Masterworks on 11 CDs, remastered from the original analogue tapes using 24 bit / 192 kHz technology

· Includes his lifelong concerto showpieces as well as legendary collaborations with the Juilliard String Quartet, Jennie Tourel and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

All recordings in this 11 CDs original jacket collection have been newly remastered from the original analogue tapes using 24 bit / 192 kHz technology. It is a fitting tribute to the man whom Arthur Rubinstein called “the greatest pianist among conductors, the greatest conductor among composers, and the greatest composer among pianists.”

The impact of Bernstein as conductor, composer, educator and inspirational figure in the worlds of the concert hall and musical theatre tends to overshadow his considerable prowess as a piano virtuoso. Yet he always considered the piano his first love, and often led concertos from the keyboard, collaborated in chamber music projects, and accompanied singers whom he admired. Bernstein took to the piano from an early age, studying with a variety of teachers, including his future secretary Helen Coates, although his keyboard gifts fully matured at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with the redoubtable Isabelle Vengerova.

Bernstein’s youthful piano recordings for RCA Victor include his own Seven Anniversaries, Ravel’s Concerto in G major, a classic reading of the Piano Sonata by his friend and mentor Aaron Copland, and his whimsical song cycle I Hate Music with mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom. Most of the works for piano and orchestra that Bernstein recorded for Columbia as pianist/conductor were his lifelong showpieces: the Ravel, Mozart’s K 450, K 453 and K 503 Concertos, Beethoven’s Concerto No. 1, Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Bernstein was justly proud of his Mozart and Schumann collaborations with the Juilliard Quartet, while his long friendship with mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel yielded many memorable recordings that include Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, Bernstein’s own songs, plus a document of their March 2nd 1969 Carnegie Hall concert. This collection also includes the long-unavailable performance of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn in the piano version with mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig and bass-baritone Walter Berry live in Vienna, plus Ludwig’s Brahms lieder recital, and a Mahler program with baritone Dietrich Fischer Dieskau.

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K453
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major, K450
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mozart: Concerto for Three Pianos & Orchestra, K242
New York Philharmonic
Arthur Gold, Robert Fizdale (pianos), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K503
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Savoy Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Bernstein: Anniversaries (7)
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Copland: Piano Sonata (1939-41)
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Blitzstein: Dusty Sun
Walter Scheff (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Bernstein: Afterthought
Blanche Thebom (soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Bernstein: I Hate Music, a cycle of five 'kid songs'
Blanche Thebom (soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1899 version)
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Walter Berry (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Ich atmet' einen linden Duft (Rückert-Lieder)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder! (Rückert-Lieder)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (Rückert-Lieder)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Um Mitternacht (Rückert-Lieder)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Nicht wiedersehen (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Serenade aus Don Juan (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Scheiden und Meiden (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Selbstgefühl (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Um schlimme Kinder artig zu machen (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Ablösung im Sommer (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Phantasie aus Don Juan (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Erinnerung (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Ich ging mit Lust (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Frühlingsmorgen (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Strauss, R: Allerseelen, Op. 10 No. 8
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Tchaikovsky: Noch' (Night), Op. 60 No. 9
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Tchaikovsky: Zabït tak skoro (So soon forgotten)
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Tchaikovsky: Lullaby, Op. 16 No. 1
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Tchaikovsky: Wait, Op. 16 No. 2
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Tchaikovsky: Sred mrachnïkh dnei, Op. 73, No. 5
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Rachmaninov: Ne poy, krasavitsa, pri mne, Op. 4 No. 4
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Duparc: La Vie antérieure
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Debussy: Fêtes galantes - Set 1
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Satie: Trois Melodies
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Liszt: O quand je dors (Hugo), S282
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Poulenc: Airs chantés: Air vif
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Offenbach: O mon cher amant, je te jure (from La Périchole)
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Offenbach: Ah! quel dîner je viens de faire (from La Perichole)
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Bernstein: I Hate Music, a cycle of five 'kid songs'
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Bernstein: La Bonne Cuisine, 4 recipes
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Poulenc: Hotel
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Poulenc: Voyage à Paris
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Poulenc: C
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death
Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Zigeunerlieder, Op. 103
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht, Op. 96 No. 1
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer, Op. 105 No. 2
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Feldeinsamkeit, Op. 86 No. 2
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Ständchen, Op. 106 No. 1
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Liebestreu, Op. 3 No. 1
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Mädchenlied, Op. 107 No. 5
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Sapphische Ode, Op. 94 No. 4
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Ruhe, Süßliebchen, Op. 33 No. 9
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Die Mainacht, Op. 43 No. 2
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Brahms: Von ewiger Liebe, Op. 43 No. 1
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Schumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44
Juilliard String Quartet
Leonard Bernstein (piano)

Mozart: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K478
Juilliard String Quartet
Leonard Bernstein (piano)