• Album cover for Stokowski: Chicago Debut Concerts (2-CD), conducted by Leopold Stokowski, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
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Stokowski: Chicago Debut Concerts (2-CD)

Stokowski: Chicago Debut Concerts (2-CD)
$39.99
$39.99

Leopold Stokowski makes his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut in this two-disc collection preserving performances from his first two weeks at Orchestra Hall in January 1958. Already one of the most celebrated conductors of the 20th century, Stokowski would return to the CSO over the following decade, appearing with the Orchestra in six seasons between 1958 and 1968.

The first program, recorded January 2, features Stokowski’s orchestrations of four Bach chorale preludes, Bolesław Szabelski’s Toccata and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73. The January 9 program turns to Russian repertoire with Shostakovich’s Prelude in E-flat Minor, Op. 34, No. 14, in Stokowski’s own orchestration, selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Glière’s Symphony No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 42 (Ilya Muromets).

Drawn from radio rebroadcasts of the concerts and restored by Andrew Rose, these performances capture the beginning of an important relationship between Stokowski and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They also showcase the conductor’s distinctive approach to orchestration and repertoire, from his richly colored Bach transcriptions to his heavily edited version of Glière’s monumental Third Symphony.

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