Legendary Recordings

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Ludwig van Beethoven remains among the most influential and admired composers of all time. Marking the 250th anniversary of his 1770 birth in the year 2020, Sony Classical is pleas ed to announce the upcoming release of “Beethoven – Legendary Recordings,” featuring a range of classic recordings that also celebrate Sony’s extensive catalog.The cornerstone of Beethoven’s output is his nine symphonies, from the elegant First, through the groundbreaking Third (“Eroica”) and Fifth, to the revolutionary “Choral” Symphony including the ode “To Joy”, beloved worldwide as a symbol of freedom. This set combines legendary recordings of the complete symphonies, from artists including The Cleveland Orchestra with George Szell, the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Fritz Reiner, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Charles Munch, who perform the Ninth alongside vocal soloists of the caliber of Leontyne Price and Maureen Forrester.Beethoven’s five piano concertos are played here by pianist legends Arthur Rubinstein, Leon Fleisher and Glenn Gould, and the Violin Concerto by the unrivaled Jascha Heifetz. The renowned trio of Isaac Stern (violin), Leonard Rose (cello) and Eugene Istomin (piano) perform both the Triple Concerto and several Piano Trios, including the beautiful “Archduke.” Zino Francescatti and Robert Casadesus play violin sonatas, while Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax’s acclaimed partnership is heard in two cello sonatas.The string quartet was another form that Beethoven revolutionized, in seventeen career-spanning works. Some of his finest quartets, including the late C-sharp minor op. 131, are among those included here at the hands of the Tokyo, Juilliard and Budapest String Quartets. A wide selection of piano sonatas is included in classic recordings, from Murray Perahia’s “Les Adieux” to Vladimir Horowitz’s “Waldstein” and Rudolf Serkin’s “Moonlight”, “Appassionata” and “Pathétique”. The monumental Diabelli Variations are here in a highly acclaimed contemporary recording: Igor Levit’s prize-winning interpretation, first released in 2016.The set culminates in Beethoven’s legendary sacred work, the Missa solemnis, in a new remastering of Leonard Bernstein’s 1960 recording with the New York Philharmonic: music written, according to its composer, “From the heart – may it return to the heart!” It is a fitting conclusion to a celebration of a composer whose music still touches our hearts, 250 years after his birth.SET CONTENTSDISC 1Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 (Remastered) - Columbia Symphony Orchestra - Walter [1959]Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica" (Remastered) - New York Philharmonic - Bernstein [1964]DISC 2Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36 (Remastered) - Cleveland Orchestra - Szell [1964]Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60 (Remastered) - Cleveland Orchestra - Szell [1963]DISC 3Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 - Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Reiner [1959]Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 (Remastered) - Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Reiner [1955]DISC 4Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral" (Remastered) - Cleveland Orchestra - Szell [1962]Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 (Remastered) - New York Philharmonic - Bernstein [1963]DISC 5Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" - Boston Symphony Orchestra - Munch [1958]DISC 6Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 (Remastered) - Jascha Heifetz, violin; Boston Symphony Orchestra - Munch [1955]Beethoven: Romance No. 1 in G Major, Op. 40 - Isaac Stern, violin; Boston Symphony Orchestra - Ozawa [1980]Beethoven: Romance No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50 - Isaac Stern, violin; Boston Symphony Orchestra - Ozawa [1980]DISC 7Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (Remastered) - Glenn Gould, piano; Columbia Symphony Orchestra - Golschmann [1958]Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19 (Remastered) - Glenn Gould, piano; Columbia Symphony Orchestra - Bernstein [1957]DISC 8Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 (Remastered) - Leon Fleisher, piano; Cleveland Orchestra - Szell [1961]Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (Remastered) - Leon Fleisher, piano; Cleveland Orchestra - Szell [1959]DISC 9Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 in E-flat Major (Remastered) - Arhur Rubinstein, piano; Boston Symphony Orchestra - Leinsdorf [1963]Beethoven: Choral Fantasia in C minor, Op. 80 - Emanuel Ax, piano; New York Philharmonic - Mehta [1983]DISC 10Beethoven: Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra in C Major, Op. 56 "Triple Concerto" - Isaac Stern, violin; Leonard Rose, cello; Eugene Istomin, piano; Philadelphia Orchestra - Ormandy [1964]Beethoven: Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in B-flat Major, Op. 97 "Archduke" - Isaac Stern, violin; Leonard Rose, cello; Eugene Istomin, piano [1965]DISC 11Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 2, Op. 72a - Boston Symphony Orchestra - Munch [1956]Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72a - Boston Symphony Orchestra - Munch [1956]Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 1, Op. 138 - Boston Symphony Orchestra - Munch [1956]Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72: Overture - Boston Symphony Orchestra - Munch [1955]Beethoven: Coriolan, Op.62: Overture - Boston Symphony Orchestra - Munch [1956]DISC 12Beethoven: Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 "Ghost" - Isaac Stern, violin; Leonard Rose, cello; Eugene Istomin, piano [1969]Beethoven: Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2 - Isaac Stern, violin; Leonard Rose, cello; Eugene Istomin, piano [1970]DISC 13Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5, Op. 24 "Spring" (Remastered) - Zino Francescatti, violin; Robert Casadesus, piano [1961]Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 "Kreutzer" (Remastered) - Zino Francescatti, violin; Robert Casadesus, piano [1958]Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 12 No. 1 (Remastered) - Zino Francescatti, violin; Robert Casadesus, piano [1958]DISC 14Beethoven: Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 69 (Remastered) - Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Emanuel Ax, piano [1983]Beethoven: Sonata No. 5 in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 2 (Remastered) - Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Emanuel Ax, piano [1983]DISC 15Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 "Moonlight" - Rudolf Serkin, piano [1962]Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique" - Rudolf Serkin, piano [1962]Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata" - Rudolf Serkin, piano [1962]DISC 16Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.3 in C Major, Op.2 No.3 - Murray Perahia, piano [1990]Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 "Waldstein" - Vladimir Horowitz, piano [1972]Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major, Op. 81a "Les Adieux" - Murray Perahia, piano [1984]Beethoven: Bagatelle in A Minor, WoO 59 "Für Elise" - Murray Perahia, piano [1994]DISC 17Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" (Remastered) - Charles Rosen, piano [1964]Beethoven: Piano Sonata in A-Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" (Remastered) - Sviatoslav Richter, piano [1960]DISC 18Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 - Rudolf Serkin, piano [1976]Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110 - Rudolf Serkin, piano [1960]Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 - Rudolf Serkin, piano [1967]DISC 19Beethoven: 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120 - Igor Levit, piano [2015]DISC 20Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 1 in F Major - Tokyo String Quartet [1991]Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 in C minor - Tokyo String Quartet [1991]Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 6 in B-Flat Major - Tokyo String Quartet [1992]DISC 21Beethoven: String Quartet No. 7, Op. 59 No. 1 "Rasumovsky" (Remastered) - Juilliard String Quartet [1964]Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9, Op. 59 No. 3 "Rasumovsky" (Remastered) - Juilliard String Quartet [1964]DISC 22Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 (Remastered) - Budapest String Quartet [1952]Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131 (Remastered) - Budapest String Quartet [1951]DISC 23Beethoven: String Trio in D Major, Op. 9, No. 2 (Remastered) - Jascha Heifetz, violin; William Primrose, viola; Gregor Piatigorsky, cello [1960]Beethoven: Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in E-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1 (Remastered) - Jascha Heifetz, violin; William Primrose, viola; Jakob Lateiner, piano [1964]Beethoven: Serenade for Violin, Viola and Cello in D Major Op. 8 (Remastered) - Jascha Heifetz, violin; William Primrose, viola; Gregor Piatigorsky, cello [1960]DISC 24Beethoven: Ah! Perfido, Op. 65 - New York Philharmonic - Schippers [1965]Beethoven: Christus am Ölberge, Op. 85 (Christ on the Mount of Olives) - The Philadelphia Orchestra - Ormandy [1963]Beethoven: Adelaide, Op. 46 - Jussi Björling, tenor; Frederick Schauwecker, piano [1955]DISC 25Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D Major, Op. 123 - New York Philharmonic - Bernstein [1960] Show more