“The DC area has a proud tradition of homegrown, do-it-yourself record labels: Dischord, Teen-Beat, Sister Polygon, and many more. New to that list: the National Symphony Orchestra,” writes Rob Brunner in the July issue of Washingtonian. “The city’s premier classical-music outfit … records and releases CDs and digital tracks of live NSO performances [beginning] in early 2020 with a recording of Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony and Aaron Copland’s ‘Billy the Kid.’ … This summer, things are ramping up [with] a digital recording of Gianandrea Noseda and the NSO performing George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 4, the first in a series of all five Walker sinfonias. (A CD will follow.) Later this year, it will begin releasing recordings of all nine Beethoven symphonies…. Noseda is playing around with several other ideas [such as] a disc featuring pieces written by Europeans after they moved to the US [including] Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky…. Noseda … loves the idea of a recording as a snapshot [of] a certain time and … place…. ‘After two difficult years,… I listened to the [Beethoven/Walker recording], and I can still feel it: that extra gear in the engine, the attention and the commitment of the playing.’ ”
Change font size
