Sony Classical is pleased to release the complete monaural American Columbia discography of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in a vast box set of 120 CDs, all in new remasterings. Almost all of this material will be appearing for the first time on CD on Sony Classical. Indeed, 152 of these recordings have never been released at all on CD before now. Ormandy took over the Philadelphia’s music directorship from Leopold Stokowski in 1938 and held the position for 42 years. During that time – in which his name and the orchestra’s became inseparable – he cultivated and further developed the voluptuous sound that originated with his predecessor. Ormandy and his Philadelphians were among the most prolific recording artists of all time. Between 1944 and 1968 (preceded and followed by contracts with RCA Victor), they were associated exclusively with American Columbia.

Ormandy was a committed recording enthusiast, working quickly and readily accommodating the company’s planning in order to produce best-sellers. His frequent tours with the orchestra were aimed not just at added exposure but also at boosting record sales. The Philadelphia’s UK tour in 1949 marked the first time an American orchestra had performed overseas since before the war. Over the years, Ormandy was sometimes criticized for his increasingly conservative, crowd-pleasing programming, but he was also responsible for numerous premieres in Philadelphia, championed the music of Bartók (a personal friend), and was the favoured interpreter of Rachmaninov. His 1952 Philadelphia recording of Honegger’s oratorio Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher (the only previous version was a Belgian performance from 1943) was hailed by Gramophone as “a beautiful American performance (in French) on finely engineered records... Vera Zorina [as Joan of Arc]...caught me off guard and moved me greatly”.

As amply demonstrated in this massive new Sony Classical edition, the conductor frequently performed 20th-century composers in Philadelphia and premiered many works by American composers including Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Roy Harris, Vincent Persichetti, Walter Piston, Virgil Thomson and Richard Yardumian, all represented in the new box.

Contents:

CD 1
Lalo, Borodin, Respighi, Gluck, Suppé
- Milstein, Kincald

CD 2
McDonald, White, Hanson, Kennan
- Phillips, Kincald

CD 3
Beethoven - Symphony no.7
Brahms - Symphony no.4

CD 4
Brahms - Piano Concerto no.2
Schumann - Piano Concerto
- Serkin

CD 5
Brahms - Violin Concerto
- Szigeti

CD 6
Glière, Fernández, Smetana, Dvořák, Brahms, J Strauss II, Debussy
- Sayão, Caston

CD 7
Debussy - Nocturnes
Respighi - Pini di Roma

CD 8
Dvořák - Cello Concerto
Bruch - Kol Nidrei
- Piatigorsky

CD 9
Dvořák - Symphony no.9 ‘From the New World’

CD 10
Franck - Symphony in D minor

CD 11
R Strauss - Rosenkavalier Suite, Tod und Verklärung, Salome’s Dance

CD 12
Tchaikovsky - Symphony no.4, Serenade for Strings

CD 13
Beethoven - Piano Concerto no.4
Ravel - Concerto for the Left hand
- Casadesus

CD 14
Brahms - Symphony no.3, Haydn Variations
Liszt - Les Préludes

CD 15
Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade

CD 16
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto no.1
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue
- Levant

CD 17
Beethoven - Symphony no.9
- Roman, Szantho, Jagel, Moscona

CD 18
Sibelius - Symphony no.2

CD 19
Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite no.1
Liszt - 2 Hungarian Rhapsodies

CD 20
J Strauss II, Glinka, Weber, Weinberger

CD 21
Prokofiev - Scythian Suite
Respighi - Feste romane

CD 22
Bach - Orchestral arrangements
Handel - Water Music Suite
Corelli - Suite

CD 23
Hindemith - Nobilissima visione, Symphonic Metamorphosis
- Szell

CD 24
Bartók - Piano Concerto no.3
Miaskovsky - Symphony no.21
- Sándor

CD 25
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Classical Symphony
Rimsky-Korsakov - Russian Easter Festival
- Tourel, Westminster Choir

CD 26
Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto no.1
- Stern, Piatigorsky, Hilsberg

CD 27
Thomson, Berg, McDonald, Brand
- Ribla, Thomson, McDonald

CD 28
Haydn - Symphonies nos. 88, 92 ‘Oxford’ & 101 ‘The Clock’
- Szell

CD 29
Ravel - Rapsodie espagnole
Kodály - Háry János Suite

CD 30
Ravel - Daphnis et Chloé Suite
Schoenberg - Verklärte Nacht

CD 31
Debussy, Dukas, Honegger, Sibelius, Rachmaninov

CD 32
Prokofiev - Symphony no.6

CD 33-34
J Strauss II - Die Fledermaus
- Welitsch, Pons, Lipton, Tucker, Franke

CD 35
Beethoven - Violin Concerto
Chausson - Poème
- Francescatti

CD 36
Beethoven - Piano Concerto no.5 ‘Emperor’
Mozart - Piano Concerto no.20
- Serkin

CD 37
Tchaikovsky - Symphony no.5

CD 38
Schuman - Symphony no.3
Debussy - Ibéria

CD 39
Rachmaninov - Symphony no.2

CD 40
Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique

CD 41
Brahms - Symphony no.1

CD 42
Tchaikovsky - Symphony no.6 ‘Pathetique’

CD 43
The Strauss Family & Beethoven - Waltzes, Polkas & Overtures

CD 44
Gottschalk, Gould, Walton, Bernstein - Ballet Music
- Mitropoulos, Hilsberg

CD 45
Philadelphia Orchestra: First Chair

CD 46
Chopin - Piano Concerto no.1
- Sándor

CD 47
Sibelius - Lemminkäinen Suite

CD 48
Haydn - Symphonies nos. 45 ‘Farewell’ & 7 ‘Le Midi’

CD 49
Honegger - Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher
- Zorina, Gérôme, Yeend, Long, Lipton

CD 50
Liszt - Piano Concerto no.1
Beethoven - Piano Concerto no.3
- Arrau

CD 51
Prokofiev - Symphony no.7
Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet, 1812 Overture

CD 52
The Strauss Family - Overtures, Polkas & Marches

CD 53
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition
Stravinsky - L’Oiseau de feu Suite

CD 54
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker & The Sleeping Beauty Suites

CD 55
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde & Götterdämmerung (excerpts)
- Harshaw

CD 56
Hindemith - Symphony ‘Mathis der Maler’, Concert Music

CD 57
Brahms - Symphony no.2

CD 58
Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio espagnol
Tchaikovsky - Capriccio italien

CD 59
Wagner - Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Die Walküre, Die Meistersinger (orchestral music)

CD 60
Waldteufel - Waltz Suites
Lehár - Waltzes

CD 61
R Strauss - Ein Heldenleben

CD 62
Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade

CD 63
Offenbach/Rosenthal - Gaîté Parisienne
Chopin/Douglas - Les Sylphides

CD 64
Thomson - 3 Pictures, 5 Songs from William Blake
- Harrell, Thomson

CD 65
Beethoven - Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 3
- Serkin

CD 66
Franck - Symphony in D minor

CD 67
Rachmaninov - Symphony no.3, Vocalise

CD 68
Ravel - Boléro, La Valse, Pavane
Ibert - Escales
Debussy, Chabrier

CD 69
Bartók - Concerto for Orchestra

CD 70
Yardumian - Armenian Suite, Violin Concerto, Psalm 130
- Brusilow, Zulick

CD 71
Schuman - Symphony no.6
Piston - Symphony no.4

CD 72
Stravinsky - Le Sacre du printemps, Pétrouchka Suite

CD 73
Grieg - Peer Gynt Suites nos. 1 & 2
Bizet - L’Arlésienne Suites nos. 1 & 2

CD 74
Beethoven - Piano Concertos nos. 2 & 4
- Serkin

CD 75
Sibelius - Symphonies no. 4 & 5

CD 76
Rachmaninov - The Bells, The Isle of the Dead
- Yeend, Lloyd, Harrell

CD 77
Tchaikovsky - Symphony no.4

CD 78
Bach - Orchestral arrangements

CD 79
Vivaldi, Bach, Mendelssohn - Violin Concertos
- Stern, Oistrakh

CD 80
Wagner - Parisfal (orchestral music)

CD 81
Mendelssohn, Mozart, Paganini - Violin Concertos
- Oistrakh, Francescatti

CD 82
Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto no.2, 2 Preludes
- Istomin

CD 83
Harris - Symphonies no.7 & ‘1933’ (no.1)
- Koussevitsky

CD 84
Beethoven - Symphony no.5
Mozart - Symphony no.40

CD 85
Persichetti - Symphony no.4
Gesensway - 4 Squares of Philadelphia

CD 86
Debussy - Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Nocturnes
Ravel

CD 87
Lalo - Symphonie espagnole
Bruch - Violin Concerto no.1
- Stern

CD 88
Brahms - Violin Concerto
Vieuxtemps - Violin Concerto no.4
- Francescatti

CD 89
Dvořák - Symphony no.9 ‘From the New World’

CD 90
Brahms - Piano Concerto no.2
- Serkin

CD 91
Virtuosi di Philadelphia

CD 92
Albéniz - Iberia

CD 93
Khachaturian - Gayaneh (excerpts)
Kabalevsky - The Comedians

CD 94
Copland - Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid

CD 95
J Strauss II - Die Fledermaus Overture & Suite, Waltzes

CD 96
Schumann - Piano Concerto
R Strauss - Burleske
- Serkin

CD 97
R Strauss - Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Rosenkavalier Waltzes

CD 98
Schuman - Credendum
Kirchner - Piano Concerto no.1
- Kirchner, Mitropoulos

CD 99
Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Barber - Music for Strings
Vaughan Williams

CD 100
Glière - Symphony no.3 ‘Ilya Muromets’

CD 101
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake (excerpts)

CD 102
Rossini, Offenbach, Smetana, Thomas, Suppe, Berlioz - Overtures
- Hilsberg

CD 103
Wieniawski - Violin Concerto no.2
Ravel - Tzigane
Saint-Saëns
- Stern

CD 104
Saint-Saëns - Symphony no.3 ‘Organ’
- Biggs

CD 105
Schubert - Symphony no.8 ‘Unfinished’
Mendelssohn - A Midsummer Night’s Dream

CD 106
Glière, Smetana, Brahms, Khachaturian - Dances

CD 107
Sibelius - Symphonic Poems
Alfvén, Grieg

CD 108
Enescu - 2 Romanian Rhapsodies
Dvořák - Carnival
Tchaikovsky - Francesca da Rimini

CD 109
Sarasate - Zigeunerweisen
Saint-Saëns - Havanaise
Chausson - Poème
- Francescatti, Smith

CD 110
Smetana - Vltava (The Moldau)
Weber, Liszt, Berlioz

CD 111
Dello Joio - Variations, Chaconne & Finale
Vincent - Symphony in D

CD 112
Prokofiev - Classical Symphony
Bizet - Symphony no.1
Weinberger

CD 113
R Strauss - Don Quixote
- Munroe, Zaratzian

CD 114
Haydn - Symphonies nos. 99 & 100 ‘Military’

CD 115
Beethoven - Piano Concerto no.5 ‘Emperor’
 - Istomin

CD 116
R Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier Suite, Die Frau ohne Schatten Fantasia

CD 117
Herbert - Panamerica, American Fantasy, Irish Rhapsody

CD 118
Beethoven - Symphony no.6 ‘Pastoral’
Schubert - Symphony no.8 ‘Unfinished’
- Walter

CD 119
Kern, Rodgers, Berners, Rossini
- Grooters, Kostelanetz, Beecham

CD 120
Symphony in Brief
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra, O’Connell