This series of DVDs will make the publicly broadcast BSO concerts from this era available for the first time
since they were broadcast. This rare material represents some of the earliest televised concerts with the
Boston Symphony and Erich Leinsdorf, and has been restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art
techniques. It is of exceptional musical interest and historic value.

The BSO’s Music Director for seven seasons, Leinsdorf had a long and distinguished career, having worked with Toscanini and Walter, conducting at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Cleveland Orchestra and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in addition to his tenure at the BSO.

This 1969 performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony has been the object of some attention from internet bloggers, with one site featuring an almost complete audio recording of the performance. Readers were astonished at the intensity and drive behind Leinsdorf’s interpretation.

Because he didn’t perform the work regularly (on only 14 occasions with the BSO) the performance is fresh and insightful – the emotional commitment is great both from Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which Richard Dyer describes as ‘solid, flexible and brilliant’.

All three featured works are new to Leinsdorf’s discography.