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DIMITRI MITROPOULOS - Complete Columbia and RA Recordigs After making his American debut in 1936 with the Boston Symphony, Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos the following year became principal conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony where he remained until 1949. That year he began his association with the New York Philharmonic first as co-conductor with Leopold Stokowski. Then he became music director until 1958 when Leonard Bernstein began his tenure. Mitropoulos championed new music and made many recordings, all presented in this important new issue, which also contains all of his recordings for RCA. He also championed lesser-known composers including Rabaud, Sessions, Krenck, William Schuman, Travis, Siegmeister, and Rieger. Some famous soloists recorded with him: Zino Francescatti (Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 3), concertos of Walton, Prokofiev (No. 1), Lalo (Symphonie espagnole), Isaac Stern (Prokofiev Concertos), Robert Casadesus (Falla:Nights in the Gardens of Spain), Leonard Rose (Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto), Oscar Levant (Rubinstein and Khachturian concertos). Egon Petri (Liszt Spanish Rhapsody), and David Oistrakh (Shostakovich Concerto No. 1). Mitropoulos also conducted opera and his 1951 New York Philharmonic concert performance of Wozzeck with Eileen Farrell and Mack Harrell; Verdi's A Masked Ball in the famous live 1955 performance featuring Marian Anderson. and a 1956 Met performance of Boris Godounov with Giorgio Tozzi in the title role. All of these are included in this new set. This is a handsome deluxe set with an impressive 190-page book that contains numerous photos and complete recording information. Also included are reproductions of original LP releases. This is a major addition to anyone's collection, a perfect tribute to this amazing conductor R.E.B. (June 2022)
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