Philharmonia – Birth of a Legend
Warner Classics | January 2020 release
To celebrate three-quarters of a century of remarkable recordings, the orchestra is partnering with Warner Classics, which owns much of the Orchestra’s back catalogue, to release a box set of recordings from the years the Philharmonia was run by its founder, Walter Legge (1945-64).
Philharmonia – Birth of a Legend features recordings with conductors that made the early Philharmonia one of the greatest orchestras in the world: Herbert von Karajan, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Guido Cantelli, Arturo Toscanini, Otto Klemperer and Carlo Maria Giulini.
Classic recordings sit alongside rarely-heard gems. A link to the modern-day Philharmonia is made with a bonus recording licenced from the BBC, of Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht at Royal Festival Hall in September 2018.
Philharmonia – Birth of a Legend was coordinated by Jon Tolansky. The box set will be released internationally on 24 January 2020.