Almost 25 years since his death, the time has come for DG to re-present his remarkable legacy with the grandeur it truly merits. As Arthur Rubinstein put it: "The greatest pianist among the conductors, the greatest conductor among composers, the greatest composer among pianists … He is a universal genius."

Leonard Bernstein bestrode the musical scene in the second half of the 20th century like few others. For the last decade of his life he recorded exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, having also made several recordings for the label in the 1970s, starting with his celebrated Carmen in 1973.

Bernstein’s complete recordings for the label are now offered on two deluxe box sets, presented in their original sleeves, with a 40-page LP-size booklet, with new essays by Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton and Nigel Simeone, editor of the recently published The Leonard Bernstein Letters, and a specially-written foreword by Bernstein’s daughter Jamie Bernstein.

Volume One comprises Bernstein’s complete recordings of composers from Beethoven to Liszt, and includes all of Bernstein’s recordings of his own works, those of Brahms, Copland and Haydn, and individual CDs of Bruckner, Debussy, Dvořák, Elgar, Franck, Hindemith and many American composers. Volume Two, ranging from Mahler to Wagner, will appear in 2015.

CONTENTS

•    CD 1 – 16: BEETHOVEN – The 9 Symphonies; Overtures; Piano Concertos nos. 3 – 5 (with Krystian Zimerman); String Quartets arranged for Orchestra; The Amnesty International Concert; The Final Concert (Symphony no. 7); The Berlin Wall Concert (Symphony no. 9); Missa solemnis; Fidelio

•    CD 17 – 32: BERNSTEIN in all his glory – the 3 Symphonies and other orchestral works, ballets, theatreworks from On the Town (Michael Tilson Thomas conducting), Candide, West Side Story, A Quiet Place and A White House Cantata (Kent Nagano conducting)

•    CD 33 – 46: BIZET (Carmen) to BRAHMS (Complete Symphonies, Concertos – with Kremer, Maisky and Zimerman), and COPLAND (Appalachian Spring, Symphony no. 3, Clarinet Concerto, Quiet City, El Salón México) – plus Bruckner 9

•    CD 47 – 59: Debussy to Liszt, taking in Dvořák, Elgar, Franck, Harris and Schuman,  Hindemith, Ives – and above all HAYDN (4 CDs, including Symphony no. 102 from Vienna, re-released for the first time since 1992); the set is strongly rounded off by Liszt’s A Faust Symphony

•    DVD: The Making of West Side Story