Eugene Ormandy – The Columbia Legacy —Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy (Sony 975748)
Here is a treasure trove of delights encompassing the complete Columbia Records output of Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra from 1944 to 1958. 120 CDs with their original LP cover art, collected in a luxurious boxset with an authoritative 212-page booklet. Hear how the legendary “Philadelphia Sound” blossomed before the advent of stereo under the Hungarian-born conductor whose 44-year tenure with the Philadephians is still a record. The tracklist is a thing of wonder – filled with a vast range of familiar and unfamiliar works by virtually every major composer from Bach all the way to contemporaries with whom Ormandy worked like Bartók and Rachmaninoff. The set set includes an array of legendary soloists, too: Rudolf Serkin, Robert Casadesus, Claudio Arrau, Joseph Szigeti, Zino Francescatti, Isaac Stern, Gregor Piatigorsky, and so many more. The set is in "original album" format, and Sony has retained material from the original albums even when Ormandy wasn't conducting; so a number of recordings conducted by Andre Kostelanetz, Bruno Walter, George Szell, and others find there way into this amazing collection. Go to the Donate page on this website for details on how you can secure this set and become a member of WCLV Ideastream Public Media during our May Membership Campaign.