Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the most prominent U.S. symphonic ensembles, with deep roots in the Germanic practices that formed the model for American orchestral culture. The orchestra's catalogue of recordings on the RCA Victor label in the middle of the 20th century, artistically ambitious and sonically top-notch thanks to the ambiance of Boston's magnificent Symphony Hall, continue to set a standard. The Boston Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1881 with principal support from banker Henry Lee Higginson, who also spearheaded the construction of Symphony Hall and its opening in 1900. Its membership consisted largely of German-trained musician, and its first conductor, George Henschel, was a friend of Brahms. Subsequent conductors were German or, in the case of Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian. Especially important was Karl Muck, a former conductor of the Berlin Court Opera (now the Berlin State Opera), who led the orchestra from 1906 to 1908, and again from 1912 to 1918 after the leadership of Max Fiedler in the interim. Muck stepped down and was held in an internment camp in Georgia after espousing pro-German sympathies during World War I. But beginning with Pierre Monteux in 1919, the Boston Symphony boasted a series of internationally renowned and non-German conductors. Monteux was French; Serge Koussevitsky, who led the orchestra from 1924 to 1949, was Russian and a towering figure who commissioned numerous modern works and led the world premieres of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, among many other now-standard works, and founded the annual Tanglewood Music Festival and its associated talent-development classes, with the BSO in residence. Koussevitsky was succeeded by Alsatian-French Charles Münch (1949-1963) and the Austrian-Jewish Erich Leinsdorf, whose RCA recordings were central to collections in the LP era in the U.S. Leinsdorf was succeeded for several years by the ailing William Steinberg and in 1973 by Japanese-born Seiji Ozawa, whose leadership was artistically controversial but long, and also marked by significant recordings, mostly on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Another conductor with an operatic background, James Levine, followed Ozawa in 2002; he stepped down due to ill health and Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons, who had taken on Mahler's vast Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand") as an emergency replacement for Levine, was named conductor. His contract has been extended through 2022, and he has led the orchestra in new recordings with Deutsche Grammophon, including a live cycle of the symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich. A notable feature of the orchestra's musical life is the existence of the Boston Pops light music orchestra, with personnel drawn from the ranks of the BSO; under conductor Arthur Fiedler (son of Max), that group attained unprecedented popularity on American radio and television as well as in live concerts. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has also been heard on the scores of two films by director Steven Spielberg, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, with the scores' composer, John Williams, as conductor.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Brahms : The Symphonies - Nos. 2 & 3
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
Symphonies - Released by BSO Classics on Apr. 24, 2017
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on May 27, 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Bolero
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Five Piano Concertos
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, Rudolf Serkin
Classical - Released by Telarc on Dec. 1, 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker / The Sleeping Beauty / Romeo and Juliet
San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ruggles: Sun Treader / Schuman: Violin Concerto / Piston: Symphony No. 2
Paul Zukofsky, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 1990
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Transcriptions by Stokowski/Schoenberg/Stravinsky/Webern
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan. 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc : Gloria - Stabat Mater
Kathleen Battle, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boston Symphony Orchestra - Ravel
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Dec. 7, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonie No. 103, "Roulement de timbale" & Symphonie No. 104, "Londre" (Mono Version)
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt : A Faust Symphony
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jul. 8, 2016
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc/Milhaud: Concerto in D minor for 2 Pianos/Scaramouche etc.
Katia Labèque, Marielle Labèque, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan. 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chabrier: España - Rhapsody For Orchestra / Gounod: Faust, Ballet Music / Thomas: Overture From 'Mignon' / Offenbach: Gaîté parisienne
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Oct. 3, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphonie No. 3 "Écossaise" (Mono Version)
Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonie Nr. 41 C-Dur KV 551, Schubert: Symphonie Nr. 8 H-moll, D. 759
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Eugen Jochum
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Amnesty International Concert; Symphonies Nos.7 & 9; Overtures; String Quartet Arr.; Missa solemnis
Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana : Die Moldau
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphonies Nos 3 & 6
Jessye Norman, American Boy Choir, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan. 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo