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Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Symphony Orchestra) |
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Founded: Early 1950's - New York, USA |
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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.
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 Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. 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 Orchestra, and pay them for their work without having to pay royalties against sales to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra 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 1960's - was a good ensemble, a match for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra 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.
However, the Columbia Orchestra which appeared on Bruno Walter's stereo recordings from 1957 onward was something different and very special. Bruno Walter had retired at age 80 after a very successful career recording with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, 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, Bruno 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 Bruno 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 Bruno Walter. It was one of the best recording orchestras ever assembled in the USA, incorporating many of the best characteristics of the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig - which Bruno Walter had conducted in Austria and Germany during the 1920's and 1930's - as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This orchestra recorded much of the core Classical and Romantic repertoire under Bruno Walter's baton, including the late W.A. Mozart symphonies, Gustav Mahler's symphonies Nos. 1 and 9, the four Johannes Brahms symphonies, Dvorak's Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9, Schubert's Ninth, the Wagner orchestral music, and the complete Beethoven symphonies. |
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Source: All Music Guide Website (Author: Bruce Eder)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2005) |
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Robert Craft : Short Biography | Ensembles: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Bach Discography: Recordings of Vocal Works | Recordings of Instrumental Works |
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Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works |
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Conductor |
As |
Works |
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Richard Burgin |
Orchestra |
Selections from BWV 29, BWV 79, BWV 129, BWV 142,BWV 146, BWV 147, BWV 182, BWV 208, BWV 248 |
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Pablo Casals |
Orchestra |
Bach-T.T. Frost: Selections from BWV 147 & BWV 208, arranged for orchestra |
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Jerold D. Ottley |
Orchestra |
Chorus from BWV 80, Chorale from BWV 147 |
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Max Rudolf |
Orchestra |
Arias from BWV 21, BWV 68 [w/ soprano Eleanor Steber] |
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Daniel Saidenberg |
Orchestra |
Selections from BWV 232, BWV 243 [w/ contralto Carol Brice) |
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Recordings of Arrangements/Transcriptions of Bach's Works |
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Conductor |
As |
Works |
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Zoltán Rozsnyai |
Orchestra |
[C-2] (1964, LP/CD): BWV 29/Mvt. 1, BWV 79/Mvt. 3, BWV 140/Mvt. 4+Mvt. 7+Mvt. 10, BWV 142/Mvt. 1+ Mvt. 8, BWV 248/1/Mvt. 9 (9) + BWV 248/6/Mvt. 11 (64), BWV 608, BWV 129/Mvt. 5, BWV 208/Mvt. 9, BWV 146/Mvt. 7, Five Concerted Chorales, BWV 207a/Mvt. 1+Mvt. 10 |
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Links to other Sites |
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Columbia Symphony Orchestra - Biography (AMG) |
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