Sony Classical Releases Serge Koussevitzky: The Complete Boston Symphony Recordings (1928–1950) - 55 Albums Out Digitally November 20
Photographic portrait of Serge Koussevitzky (Garo)
Coming this Fall:
Serge Koussevitzky: The Complete Boston Symphony Recordings(1928–1950)
Historic Collection Encompassing 55 Albums To Be Released Digitally by Sony Classical in November 2026
Please note that this is a digital-only release. There will be no advance press copies or downloads available.
As the annual Tanglewood Music Festival marks its founder Serge Koussevitzky’s 152nd birth anniversary this weekend, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Sony Classical announce the digital release this November of Serge Koussevitzky: The Complete Boston Symphony Recordings(1928–1950). The landmark collection encompasses all 55 albums recorded during Koussevitzky’s quarter-century tenure as the BSO’s conductor and music director and includes several first recordings of works the BSO premiered by composers that Koussevitzky championed like Prokofiev, Copland, and Harris. Also included are major works of the great symphonic canon by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Ravel, Schubert, Sibelius, Strauss, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, and others. Set to be released globally on November 20 on the Sony Classical label, the complete Koussevitzky-BSO collection will be available to download and stream, newly remastered and presented in the highest quality audio across digital music platforms, made possible by the generosity of BSO donors.
The earliest album from November 1928 is the Boston Symphony’s very first electrical recording: Stravinsky’s Petroushka and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé suites. The latest recordings of the set, acclaimed performances of Sibelius’s Second Symphony and Grieg’s The Last Spring, were made on November 29, 1950, just six months before Koussevitzky died in Boston.
The highly anticipated collection offers many important works, notable guest soloists, and first recordings, among them:
The first recording of Bach's St. Matthew Passion in its entirety and all of his Brandenburg Concertos and Orchestral Suites.
The first recording of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf (a later version featured Eleanor Roosevelt as narrator), his Symphony No. 5, and his Violin Concerto No. 2, with soloist Jascha Heifetz. The BSO gave the American premieres of all three works.
The first studio recording of Copland's Appalachian Spring orchestral suite and the first recording of Lincoln Portrait.
The first recording of Harris's Symphony No. 3, a BSO premiere regarded as among the most important mid-century American works.
The first recording of Ravel's Koussevitzky-commissioned orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (BSO gave the American premiere under Koussevitzky) and one of the earliest recordings (1930) of Ravel’s Boléro.
Koussevitzky was considered one of the great Tchaikovsky interpreters, and the collection includes the Tchaikovsky symphonies nos. 4, 5, and 6, as well as recordings of Romeo and Juliet and Francesca da Rimini.
Mozart is represented by six symphonies as well as overtures from his operas; Dorothy Maynor sings an aria from The Magic Flute.
A special highlight is an album on which Koussevitzky himself plays the double bass, including the beautiful slow movement from his own Double Bass Concerto.
More information about Serge Koussevitzky’s life and work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra may be found in the BSO’s online digital exhibits prepared during the celebration of the Koussevitzky 150 Celebration in 2024. Additional information about Sony Classical is available at Sony Classical.