Complete Deutsche Grammophon & Argo Recordings (14 CD Box Set)

Michael Tilson Thomas’s complete recordings for Deutsche Grammophon (1970–2003) and Argo (1992–1995) encapsulate the conductor’s restlessly exploratory nature and masterful handling of the modern orchestra. The recordings in this collection demonstrate his superb ear for complex rhythms and textures, an orchestral builder, as well as an inspired interpreter of the widest imaginable range of music.

Even the most cynical of critics set aside their Beckmesser’s slate when Michael Tilson Thomas stepped on to the international stage in the early 1970s when Deutsche Grammophon released albums of Tchaikovsky, Debussy and American music. They were made near the start of his tenure as the Boston Symphony’s Assistant Conductor, and they demonstrated a preternatural assurance as well as a superb ear for complex rhythms and textures. 

Tilson Thomas’s first period with DG was relatively short-lived – just a couple of years – but it also took in his scintillating pianism, accompanying BSO principals in Debussy sonatas, and a viscerally exact Stravinsky Rite of Spring, as well as, of course, the luminous account of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Winter Dreams’ symphony (still considered a benchmark recording of this work). All the repertoire played to his strengths, and demonstrated his considerable talents as an orchestral builder as well as an inspired interpreter of the widest imaginable range of music. 

Once installed as Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra, Tilson Thomas rekindled his DG relationship with two definitive albums of music by his mentor Leonard Bernstein. On The Town and Arias and Barcarolles both feature Frederica von Stade and Thomas Hampson, who were also close and long-standing associates of the composer. The LSO/DG partnership also featured typically insightful and sympathetic performances of concertos with pianist Jean-Marc Luisada and cellist Mischa Maisky. With Il sogno, Elvis Costello’s ballet score for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the conductor’s skill at shaping the most eclectic range of styles comes to the fore.

Finally, the set brings together for the first time the Argo recordings made by Tilson Thomas with the New World Symphony, which he founded in 1997 as a ‘training orchestra’ but which rapidly established itself as an international-calibre ensemble, capable of taking on the most challenging repertoire. 

TRACK LIST

CD 1

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 2

GRIEG · SCHUMANN Piano Concertos

Jean-Marc Luisada; London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 3

DEBUSSY Images; Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 4

DEBUSSY Violin Sonata; Cello Sonata; Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp; Syrinx

Boston Symphony Chamber Players; Michael Tilson Thomas, piano

CD 5

IVES Three Places in New England

RUGGLES Sun-treader

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 6

STRAVINSKY Le Roi des étoiles; Le Sacre du printemps

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 7

PISTON Symphony No. 2

WILLIAM SCHUMAN Violin Concerto

Paul Zukofsky, violin; Boston Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 8

SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Mischa Maisky, cello; London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 9

BERNSTEIN On the Town

Frederica von Stade; Tyne Daly; Marie Mclaughlin; Thomas Hampson & supporting cast

London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 10

BERNSTEIN Arias and Barcarolles; A Quiet Place; Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Frederica von Stade; Thomas Hampson

London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 11

ELVIS COSTELLO Il sogno

London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 12

TANGAZO – MUSIC OF LATIN AMERICA

Chávez; Copland; Roldán; Revueltas; Caturla; Piazzolla; Ginastera

New World Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 13

INGOLF DAHL Concerto for Alto Saxophone; Hymn; Music for Brass Instruments; The Tower of Saint Barbara

John Harle; New World Brass; Ertan Torgul; Gregory Miller; Tisha Murvihill

New World Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas

CD 14

MORTON FELDMAN Piano and Orchestra; Cello and Orchestra; Coptic Light

Alan Feinberg; Robert Cohen

New World Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas