William Steinberg's ability to take an orchestra to the next level was evident from his first two stops, the Cologne Opera and the Palestine Symphony Orchestra - later known as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He brought this to bear again during his tenure as principal conductor in Pittsburgh, turning the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra into one of America's top orchestras from 1952 to 1976, wowing audiences everywhere with their live concerts and recordings.

The first recordings on Capitol Records and Everest were followed by a successful period with Command Classics from 1961 to 1968. A label of the Command Records group, which specialized in recording on 35 mm film and thus set qualitative standards.

The 17-CD edition "Complete Command Classics Recordings" includes the two complete symphony cycles by Beethoven and Brahms and works by Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Ravel and Tchaikovsky, as well as less frequently performed arrangements by Gershwin, Loewe and Rodgers. The original covers, a new essay by Richard Evidon, and photos from the archives round out this limited edition.

Tracklist