The Columbia Records Era
Bernstein conducting the New York City Symphony (1945) By Fred Palumbo, World Telegram staff photographer - Library of Congress. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c27783, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1273889
In Leonard Bernstein's meteoric career, the year 1950 was a banner one, in which he was signed up by Columbia Records. The Columbia connection lasted for about 26 years in which Bernstein recorded about 500 items which made up 200 albums. On this week's Classics of the Phonograph, Saturday at 11 am on WILL-FM, we will hear excerpts from pieces by Ravel, Nielsen, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Bernstein.
Ravel | "Enchanted Flute" from "Scheherazade," first Columbia record
Nielsen | Third Symphony, slow movement, with Royal Danish Orchestra
Mahler | Fifth Symphony, Adagietto, from Robert Kennedy Funeral
Bernstein | Chichester Psalms, excerpt
Shostakovich | Symphony No. 5, finale, N.Y. Phil., recorded in Symphony Hall in Boston, at much expense!