Artist
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
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The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is a major American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. History Founded in 1916, the Baltimore Symphony was initially a branch of the municipal government. In 1942 the Orchestra became a private institution. That reorganization was the first of several upgrades in budget and the more intangible concept of "status." Joseph Meyerhoff, who became the President of the Board in 1965, inaugurated the most significant of those expansions, taking the organization from being an ill-organized and woefully underfunded part-time group of regional players to a 52-week nationally-ranked ensemble. His partner in that process was Music Director Sergiu Comissiona, who combined noticeably higher standards of music-making from what had gone before with palpable celebrity appeal. The next Music Director, David Zinman, supported by then-Executive Director John Gidwitz, solidified and expanded the gains that the orchestra had made in the prior two decades. This included making several international tours, developing an acclaimed radio broadcast series, and issuing a large number of recordings on major labels, including several recordings of music by contemporary Americans composers on the Argo label. The orchestra did much to put Michael Torke ("Color Music") before the public. The Baltimore Symphony became the first American orchestra to tour behind the Iron Curtain since the 1970s (notably bringing audiences to their feet with encores of Twist and Shout). Zinman in particular pursued many innovative programming concepts, and helped introduce new music to audiences by interviewing composers on stage. Comissiona, Zinman, and his successor Yuri Temirkanov all contributed to the orchestra's significant growth and international reputation. Maestra Marin Alsop is the current Music Director of the BSO. In 2005, she was named Temirkanov's successor, thus becoming the first woman in history to lead a major American orchestra. (Joann Falletta, music director, of the Buffalo Philharmonic, was actually the first woman to lead a major American orchestra.) Alsop became BSO's Music Director Designate in the 2006-2007 concert season, and she assumed the post beginning with the 2007–2008 season. At first, her appointment created controversy between the board of directors and the orchestra players, the latter feeling their concerns were not addressed in the process of hiring a new music director. The Baltimore Symphony primarily performs in the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Its secondary venue is at the Music Centre at Strathmore, 50 miles away in Montgomery County, Maryland. Gidwitz's last initiative was the construction of Strathmore Hall. Accomplished with funding from the State of Maryland, Montgomery County, and major corporations based in that county, in addition to the Orchestra’s Board of Trustees, it makes the Baltimore Symphony increasingly accessible to the important Washington, D.C. suburbs, which had been the National Symphony Orchestra's traditional base. Music Directors * 1917-1930 Gustav Strube * 1930-1935 George Siemonn * 1935-1937 Ernest Schelling * 1937-1939 Werner Janssen * 1939-1942 Howard Barlow * 1942-1952 Reginald Stewart * 1952-1959 Massimo Freccia * 1959-1968 Peter Herman Adler * 1969-1984 Sergiu Comissiona * 1985-1998 David Zinman * 1999-2006 Yuri Temirkanov * 2007-Present Marin Alsop . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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Darke: In the Bleak Midwinter
Classical Music for Yoga and Relaxation
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71: I. Little Overture
Classical Music for Yoga and Relaxation
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71: III. Journey through the Snow (In the Pine Forest)
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Meyerbeer: Les Patineurs "The Ice Skaters": Finale (Allegro con spirito)
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Tchaikovsky: Children's Album, Op. 39: II. A Winter Morning
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MacDowell: New England Idyls, Op. 62: III. Mid-Winter
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MacDowell: New England Idyls, Op. 62: IX. From a Log Cabin
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Bartók: For Children, Sz.42, Vol. 1 (Rev. Version, 1945), Based on Hungarian Folk Tunes: 38. Winter Solstice Song. Molto vivace
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Albéniz: Les saisons, Op. 101: IV. L'hiver
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Schumann: Album for the Young, Op. 68: No. 38 in C Minor: Winterzeit I
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Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70, B. 141: III. Scherzo. Vivace - Poco meno mosso (Live)
Dvořák: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8
Marimba Concerto: I. Flowing
Kevin Puts: Marimba Concerto, The City & Oboe Concerto No. 2 "Moonlight"
Boléro in C Major, M. 81: I. Tempo di Bolero. Moderato assai
Ravel, Bolero, Rapsodia Española, Daphnis et Chloé
Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan": I. Langsam, schleppend
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163: III. Allegretto grazioso - Molto vivace (Live)
Dvořák: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8
Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan": II. Kraftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan": III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2 "The Age of Anxiety", Pt. 1 "The Seven Ages": Var. 2, Poco più mosso
Bernstein: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Abstractions: III. Seascape (Inspired by Hiroshi Sugimoto's Caribbean Sea, Jamaica, 1980)
Anna Clyne: Abstractions
Mass: No. 3, Responsory. Alleluia
Bernstein, L.: Mass
Albums
Anna Clyne: Abstractions
2025
The Essential Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
2025
Kernis: Air for Violin; Barber: Violin Concerto; Bloch: Baal Shem; Walton: Violin Concerto
2024
The Essential Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
2024
Kevin Puts: Marimba Concerto, The City & Oboe Concerto No. 2 "Moonlight"
2023
Berlioz: La Marseillaise & Other Favorites
2022
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Roman Carnival Overture & Les francs-juges Overture
2022
Classical Music for Yoga and Relaxation
2022
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 40 & Cockaigne Overture, Op. 36
2022
Everybody's Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Piano Sonata No. 2 and Vocalise
2022
Everybody's Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5, Piano Concerto No. 1 & Romeo and Juliet
2022
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 & Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14
2022
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44 & Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
2022
Russian Sketches
2022
Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 & Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Rhenish"
2022
Stravinsky: The Firebird, Petrushka & Fireworks
2022
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Romeo & Juliet
2022
Elgar: Symphony No. 1 & Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos. 1 & 2
2021
Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38 "Spring" & Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120
2021
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23, TH 55 - Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
2021
Bernstein: Marin Alsop's Complete Naxos Recordings
2018
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 (Ed. W. Shaw)
2018
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A Major "Italian" & Symphony No. 5 in D Major "Reformation"
2018
Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, Op. 64
2018
Bernstein: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
2017
Bernstein: West Side Story Symphonic Dances; Facsimile; Fancy Free; Candide Overture
2016
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"
2015
Copland: Billy The Kid; El Salon México
2013
Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite; Copland: Billy The Kid; El Salón México
2013
Kevin Puts: To Touch the Sky, If I Were a Swan, Symphony No. 4
2013
The Nutcracker Complete
2013
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 & Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Sz. 106
2012
Michael Torke: Color Music
2012
Barber & Walton: Violin Concertos – Bloch: Baal Shem
2011
Dvořák: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8
2010
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Piano Concerto, etc.
2010
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 & Symphonic Variations (Live)
2008
The Red Violin Concerto
2007
Dance Mix
2006
Christopher Rouse: Symphony No. 1; Phantasmata
2005
Ravel: Concerto For The Left Hand; Alborado Del Gracioso
2005
Ives: 3 Places In New England; New England Holidays; They Are There!
2004
The Beauty Of Barber
1999
Daugherty: Metropolis Symphony; Bizarro
1996
Copland: Rodeo/El Salón Mexico/Billy the Kid/Danzón Cubano
1994
Barber: Adagio; Symphony No.1 etc.
1992
Laderman - Concerto For Orchestra/ Britten - Diversions On a Theme, Op. 21
1991
Laderman: Concerto for Orchestra - Britten: Diversions, Op. 21
1991
Torke: Colour Music
1991
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 (Arr. for Orchestra by Arnold Schoenberg)
1984
Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 & The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26, MWV P 7 "Fingal's Cave" (Remastered 2024)
1979
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