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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Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40
Rudolf Serkin, Eugene Ormandy, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Classically on Feb 23, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.2 in G Minor, Op.63
Zino Francescatti, George Szell, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Classically on Mar 26, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Images pour orchestre - Ravel: Concerto pour piano, M. 83 (Mono Version)
New York Philharmonic, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Concertos pour piano Nos. 22 & 23 (Mono Version)
Robert Casadesus, George Szell, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Concertos pour piano Nos. 25 & 27 (Mono Version)
Rudolf Serkin, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, George Szell
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 36 & 38 (Mono Version)
New York Philharmonic, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony N°1 in C Major
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Vinyle Numérique on Sep 27, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony N°8 in F Major
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Vinyle Numérique on Sep 27, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony N°2 in D Major
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Vinyle Numérique on Sep 27, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (Mono Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à Bruno Walter, vol. 7 (Mono Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schoenberg: Suite, Op. 29 & 5 Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16 - Berg: Altenberg Songs, Op. 4 (Mono Version)
Bethany Beardslee, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Robert Craft
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à Bruno Walter, vol. 12 (Mono Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Atovmyan, Shostakovich: Suites de ballets Nos. 1 & 2, extraits - Shostakovich: Symphonie No. 9 (Mono Version)
New York Philarmonic, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Efrem Kurtz
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. Strauss II: 4 Valses célèbres (Mono Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter (Stereo Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cherubini: Medea, Highlights (Mono Version)
Eileen Farrell, Andre Turp, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Arnold Gamson
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" (Stereo Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hommage à la mémoire de Bruno Walter, vol. 7 (Stereo Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 (Stereo Version)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 7 (Stereo Version)
Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo