Leonard Bernstein - The Remastered Edition (100 CDs)

Sony Classical releases the most important collection, Leonard Bernstein’s classic American Columbia recordings, remastered from their original 2- and multi-track analogue tapes. This has allowed for the creation of a natural balance (for example, between the orchestra and solo instruments) that brings the quality of these half-century-old recordings, excellent for their time, up to the standards of today’s audiophiles. In addition, there has been a meticulous restoration of some earlier masterings in which LP surface noise was too rigorously eliminated at the expense of the original brilliance.

This is unquestionably the most comprehensive display of the legendary American conductor’s unparalleled dynamism and versatility ever offered in a single package. Many of Bernstein’s most memorable and critically acclaimed interpretations are brought together here.

Space permits only the mention of highlights, but they will give you a sense of the breadth and depth of this astonishing new set. There are his two classic complete opera recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic: Verdi’s Falstaff (1966) starring Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Strauss’s Rosenkavalier (1971) with Christa Ludwig, Gwyneth Jones, Lucia Popp and Walter Berry. Plus, his incandescent complete 1966 Haydn Creation from New York. Bernstein’s New York Philharmonic recordings that launched the “Mahler Renaissance” in the 1960s are here, of course, including the 1961 Third Symphony which has arguably never been surpassed. Ditto for Carl Nielsen, whose great works Bernstein brought to a wide new public with interpretations like the 1962 NYP recording of the Fifth Symphony, perhaps the most thrilling account of this 20th-century masterpiece ever committed to disc. The Sibelius Fifth recording from 1961 is another celebrated Bernstein reading. And while we’re talking about Fifth Symphonies, Bernstein’s Beethoven Fifth from 1961 is still as electrifying now as it was then. His talk about the work is also included, one of many treasurable spoken-word commentaries in this set delivered by one of classical music’s most charismatic and influential lecturers and teachers. Naturally there’s Mahler, Nielsen, Sibelius and Beethoven in the new collection, not to mention Bach and Vivaldi, Haydn and Mozart, Schubert and Schumann, Berlioz and Liszt, Brahms and Bruckner, Dvořák and Smetana, Bizet and Offenbach, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saëns and Poulenc, Grieg and Fauré, Stravinsky and Hindemith, Bartók and Berg, Ives and Copland, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, Richard and Johann Strauss – symphonies, overtures, symphonic poems, dances, choral and vocal works as well as countless great concertos with soloists like Isaac Stern and Glenn Gould, not to mention Bernstein himself in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

DISC 1: Stravinsky Histoire du soldat · Octet · Milhaud · Bernstein

DISC 2: Bernstein The Age of Anxiety – Symphony No. 2 · Serenade I Foss · Stern

DISC 3: Shapero Symphony for Classical Orchestra

DISC 4. Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 15 & 17 I Bernstein

DISC 5: Stravinsky L’Oiseau de feu – Suite · Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet

DISC 6: Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 I Stern

DISC 7: Stravinsky Le Sacre du printemps

DISC 8: Beethoven Violin Concerto I Stern

DISC 9: Shostakovich Symphony No. 5

DISC 10: Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue · An American in Paris · Grofe Grand Canyon Suite

DISC 11: Debussy Images pour orchestre

DISC 12: Vivaldi Concertos I Corigliano · Gomberg · Wummer · Heim

DISC 13: Ives Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 · The Unanswered Question · Central Park in the Dark

DISC 14: Copland 4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo · Billy the Kid

DISC 15: Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf · Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker

DISC 16: Mahler Kindertotenlieder · Rückert Lieder I Tourel

DISC 17: Bernstein On the Town I Studio Cast Recording (1960)

DISC 18: Handel Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day I Addison · McCollum

DISC 19: Humor in Music Dukas L’Apprenti sorcier · Strauss Till Eulenspiegel

DISC 20: Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story · On the Waterfront Suite

DISC 21: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 I Gould

DISC 22: Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini · Capriccio italien · Marche slave · The Year 1812

DISC 23 : Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune · Nocturnes · Jeux

DISC 24: Bernstein Jeremiah – Symphony No. 1 · Harris Symphony No. 3 I Tourel

DISC 25/26: Mahler Symphony No. 3 I Lipton

DISC 27: Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments · Pulcinella Suite I Lipkin

DISC 28: Wagner Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene · Wesendonck-Lieder I Farrell

DISC 29: Copland Appalachian Spring · El salón México · Music for the Theatre

DISC 30: Berlioz Harold en Italie I Lincer

DISC 31: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 I Entremont

DISC 32: Bartok Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2 · Berg Violin Concerto I Stern

DISC 33: Dvořak Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

DISC 34: Saint-Saens Le Carnaval des animaux · Britten I R. & N. Segal · Bernstein · Chapin

DISC 35: Beethoven · Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos I Bernstein · Entremont

DISC 36: Ravel Shéhérazade · Berlioz La Mort de Cléopâtre I Tourel

DISC 37: Schumann Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 “Rhenish”

DISC 38: Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 · Les Préludes I Watts

DISC 39: Beethoven Symphony No. 5 · Bernstein How a Great Symphony Was Written

DISC 40: Brahms Symphony No. 4

DISC 41: Rossini Overtures

DISC 42: Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta · Hindemith Concert Music

DISC 43: Schumann Symphony No. 1 “Spring” · Genoveva Overture

DISC 44: Liszt A Faust Symphony I Bressler · The Choral Art Society

DISC 45: Bernstein Kaddish – Symphony No. 3 I Tourel · Montealegre · Camerata Singers

DISC 46: Haydn Symphonies Nos. 82 “The Bear” & 83 “The Hen”

DISC 47: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 · Choral Fantasy I Serkin · Westminster Choir

DISC 48/49: Mahler Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” I Venora · Tourel · The Collegiate Chorale

DISC 50: Bernstein Fancy Free · Candide Overture · Prelude, Fugue and Riffs I Goodman

DISC 51: Barber · Hindemith Violin Concertos I Stern

DISC 52: Sibelius Symphony No. 5 · Pohjola’s Daughter · Violin Concerto I Francescatti

DISC 53: Nielsen Symphonies Nos. 3 “Sinfonia espansiva” & 5

DISC 54: Bernstein Chichester Psalms · Facsimile I Camerata Singers

DISC 55: Schubert Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” · Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 “Italian”

DISC 56: Beethoven Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”

DISC 57: Dvořák Carnival · Slavonic Dances Nos. 1 & 3 · Smetana The Moldau

DISC 58/59: Verdi Falstaff I Fischer-Dieskau · Ligabue · Resnik · Sciutti · Panerai · Oncina

DISC 60: Schumann Piano Quintet · Mozart Piano Quartet I Bernstein · Juilliard String Quartet

DISC 61: Bach Concertos I Stern · Gomberg · Menuhin

DISC 62: Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 “Scottish” · Die Hebriden

DISC 63: Borodin · Ippolitov-Ivanov · Mussorgsky · Glinka

DISC 64: Nielsen Flute Concerto · Clarinet Concerto I Baker · Drucker

DISC 65/66: Haydn Die Schöpfung I Raskin · Young · Reardon · Camerata Singers

DISC 67: Mahler Symphony No. 6 “Tragic”

DISC 68: Mahler Symphony No. 9

DISC 69: Brahms Serenade No. 2

DISC 70: Prokofiev Classical Symphony · Bizet Symphony in C major

DISC 71: Goldmark Rustic Wedding Symphony

DISC 72: Haydn Symphonies Nos. 88 & 102

DISC 73: Berlioz Symphonie fantastique · Bernstein Berlioz Takes a Trip

DISC 74: J. Strauss II Waltzes

DISC 75: Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn · Lieder I Ludwig · Berry · Fischer-Dieskau

DISC 76: Hindemith Symphony in E-flat major · Symphonic Metamorphoses

DISC 77: Schuman Symphony for Strings (No. 5) · Symphony No. 3

DISC 78: Tchaikovsky Swan Lake (excerpts)

DISC 79-81: R. Strauss Der Rosenkavalier I Ludwig · Jones · Popp · Berry · Domingo

DISC 82: Beethoven Overtures

DISC 83: Bruckner Symphony No. 9

DISC 84: Great Marches

DISC 85: Schubert Symphony No. 9 “The Great”

DISC 86: Offenbach Gaîté Parisienne (excerpts) · Bizet L’Arlésienne Suites Nos. 1 & 2

DISC 87: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 “Little Russian”

DISC 88: Bizet Carmen Suites Nos. 1 & 2 · Grieg Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 & 2

DISC 89: Holst The Planets

DISC 90: Bernstein Dybbuk I Johnson · Ostendorf

DISC 91: Bernstein Trouble in Tahiti I Williams · Patrick · Butler · Clarke · Brown

DISC 92: Haydn Harmoniemesse I Blegen · von Stade · Riegel · Estes · Westminster Choir

DISC 93: Weber Overtures

DISC 94: Age of Gold Tchaikovsky · Prokofiev · Borodin · Shostakovich · Gliere

DISC 95: Britten 4 Sea Interludes · Passacaglia · Suite on English Folk Tunes

DISC 96: Poulenc Gloria · Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms I Blegen · Westminster Choir

DISC 97: Saint-Saens “Organ” Symphony · Piano Concerto No. 4 I Raver · Casadesus

DISC 98: Bernstein West Side Story I Original Broadway Cast Recording (1957)

DISC 99: Bernstein Candide I Original Broadway Cast Recording (1956)

DISC 100: Bernstein Peter Pan I Original Broadway Cast Recording (1950)