Columbia Symphony Orchestra
The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was a name linked to numerous ensembles recording at different times for Columbia Records. The name itself was an artifact from a time in which record labels and radio networks assembled and named their own orchestras, or used the name as a "cover" for the use of an orchestra that was contracted elsewhere.
For purposes that concern us here, the "Columbia Symphony Orchestra" name was used by Columbia Masterworks in the 1950s on New York recording sessions with an orchestra comprised of members of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the NBC Symphony. The label could hire members of those orchestras as freelance players, assemble an orchestra every bit as good as (and perhaps better than) the New York Philharmonic, and pay them for their work without having to pay royalties against sales to the Philharmonic or any of the players other than the conductor or soloist. This orchestra -- as it appeared on monaural recordings made by Bruno Walter in New York between 1954 and early 1956, and with other New York-based conductors into the early '60s -- was a good ensemble, a match for the Philharmonic in the studio. Indeed, one of the most highly acclaimed and best-selling recordings by Leonard Bernstein on the Columbia label -- of George Gershwin's An American in Paris -- was a Columbia Symphony Orchestra recording, not a Philharmonic record.
However, the Columbia Orchestra which appeared on Bruno Walter's stereo recordings from 1957 onward was something different and very special. Walter (1876-1962) had retired at age 80 after a very successful career on Columbia with the New York Philharmonic, where he served as Musical Advisor from 1947 to 1949, and as a frequent guest conductor over the following seven years. In 1957, while living in California, he was approached by Columbia's executives with a new proposal. Told of the advent of stereo recording and the threat that it constituted to the future sales of monaural records, Walter was asked to undertake a new series of recordings in stereo to preserve his interpretations in the most modern sound possible and to allow them to reach new generations of listeners.
The result was a new Columbia Symphony Orchestra, chosen specifically by and for Walter. This group was an ensemble of 50 to 70 members, assembled from the best freelance musicians on the West Coast, many of whom typically never took on orchestral work but made the exception to work with Walter. It was one of the best recording orchestras ever assembled in the United States, incorporating many of the best characteristics of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhaus -- which Walter had conducted in Austria and Germany during the '20s and '30s -- as well as the New York Philharmonic. This orchestra recorded much of the core classical and Romantic repertory under Walter's baton, including the late Mozart symphonies, Mahler's symphonies Nos. 1 and 9, the four Brahms symphonies, Dvorak's symphonies Nos. 8 and 9, Schubert's Ninth, the Wagner orchestral music, and the complete Beethoven symphonies.
© Bruce Eder
Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.)
Symphony No. 5 sketches Sony Classical [7] (Bernstein cond.)
Brahms Symphonies 1-4 Sony Classical [7] (Walter cond.)
Bruckner Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [9] (Walter cond.)
Symphony No. 4 Sony Classical [7] (Walter cond.)
Dvorak Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.)
Gershwin An American In Paris Sony Classical [8] (Bernstein cond.)
Mahler Symphony No. 1 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.)
Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.)
Mozart Symphonies 25, 35, 38-41 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.)
Schubert Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.)
Stravinsky Rite Of Spring Sony Classical [6] (Stravinsky cond.)
Firebird Suite Sony Classical [6] (Stravinsky cond.) /TiVo
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Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording am 30.09.2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 6, Op. 68 "Pastorale" (Stereo Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 25 & 28 (Mono Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini Without Words
André Kostelanetz And His Orchestra, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 26.10.1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Un américain à Paris & Rhapsody in Blue (Remastered, Stereo Version)
New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony No. 1 - Igor Stravinsky: Symphony, Op. 1
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Boris Khaikin, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, CBC Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Praga Digitals am 01.07.2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring & The Firebird (2023 Remastered)
Igor Stravinsky, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording am 05.12.2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, Beethoven, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Ravel...
Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, RCA Victor Orchestra
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Les Indispensables de Diapason am 25.06.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Concerto pour piano et orchestre, Op. 54 (Stereo Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter, Eugene Istomin
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie Nos. 4 & 5 (Stereo Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109 (1894 Version, Orel Edition) [Remastered 2022]
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Klassik - Erschienen bei Archipel am 01.07.2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter, vol. 9 (Stereo Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Œuvres orchestrales (Mono Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter, vol. 6 (Stereo Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter, vol. 2 (Stereo Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 (Mono Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Concerto pour piano, Op. 54 (Mono Version)
Eugene Istomin, Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter, vol. 4 (Mono Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter, vol. 3 (Mono Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter (Stereo Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter, vol. 2 (Mono Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo