Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic left an unsurpassed recorded legacy. Herbert von Karajan’s Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Georg Solti’s Chicago Symphony made many fine recordings, but the partnership between “Lenny” and the “Phil” is iconic. Bernstein was a conductor whose hyper-magnetic personality electrified audiences around the world, but he was more than just a matinee idol on the podium. Bernstein and the orchestra mastered a huge range of standard repertoire, but were also ground-breakers that presented rarely heard works. For example, Gustav Mahler was not a household name until Bernstein and the orchestra championed his music.
New York Philharmonic music directors have come and gone since Bernstein stepped down as music director in 1969, but the orchestra has rarely sounded as inspired as when he was on the podium. There’s recorded proof and we have it. We are honored to offer a series of high-quality digital downloads of great symphonies performed by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein.
These are some of Bernstein and the orchestra’s finest recordings, from the perfectly crafted symphonies of Haydn and Mozart to the intense and deeply personal ones of the maestro himself. Many of these recordings are available as high-end lossless downloads for the first time and sound marvelously fresh. Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic are the stuff of legend.
by Craig Zeichner, Ariama Editor
Featured Albums
