In celebration of the great Robert Shaw‘s centenary, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has issued its historic live recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, done at a single 1988 concert with Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
The newly released recording — featuring Shaw’s final performance in Atlanta as ASO music director — is available at the Symphony Store in the Woodruff Arts Center. It will be available nationwide on April 29 (Friday), with the digital release available for download on iTunes.
The CD can be ordered online via ASO Media HERE or Amazon HERE for $18.99. It also will be available when the orchestra performs at Carnegie Hall in New York on April 30 (Saturday), which would have been Shaw’s 100th birthday.
“The electricity in the room was palpable,” says ASO executive director Jennifer Barlament. “The audience responded with an enthusiastic ovation of nearly nine minutes.”
The live 1988 broadcast features the orchestra and chorus with Benita Valente (soprano), Janice Taylor (mezzo-soprano), Richard Leech (tenor) and William Stone (baritone). The playlist:
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 — Choral
I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
II. Molto vivace; Presto; Molto vivace
III. Adagio molto e cantabile
IV. Presto
