Deutsche Grammophon is finally getting around to releasing a boxed set of the recordings it made with Carlo Maria Giulini and the Chicago Symphony. The 5-CD package with the lame cover (above) is a follow-up to a previous release the company made of the conductor’s recordings with the L.A. Philharmonic. It will be released on June 21 to an adoring public, which will no doubt utter a gigantic ‘huzzah’ and send it to the top of the bestseller lists.
But seriously, we’re all Giulini fans here. The track listings are not yet available online, but if DG includes the entirety of its recordings with the maestro and the Chicagoans the set will include.
1. Mahler’s Symphony No. 9.
2. Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (with Robert Tear and Dale Clevenger).
3. Schubert’s Symphonies No. 4, 8 and 9.
4. Dvorak’s Symphonies 8 and 9.
5. Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”.
6. Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony.
I’ve not heard all of these recordings. But those I have are choice. The Mahler 9 (a Grammy winner) in particular is fearsome, and belongs in every collection. Giulini, at least at this stage of his career (the 1970s), recorded only music he felt deeply about and in which he had something special to say.
By the way, the Chicago Symphony has a free podcast of Giulini recordings made with the orchestra, including pieces by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Dvorak and Schubert. Click here.
related posts: 10 Giulini recordings
classical life 
For some crazy reason, the UK Amazon site lists movement details, without actual work titles:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giulini-America-Chicago-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/tracks/B004TNZVEY/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1
Quite a bit of fun for those who want to match movements to determine what’s what. (Truth be told, most of this material has been available in one form or the other, especially Mahler 9, but a box is so much more convenient!
Yes, I saw that. Not sure that the Schubert 9 with Chicago has ever been on CD. (?) It’ll be nice to have all this stuff remastered, at any rate. Been listening to the Prokofiev “Classical” with Giulini online — different, very gentle and delicate and, of course, lyrical. I like it.
I caught the tail end of KUSC’s broadcast of an LA Philharmonic concert on Sunday, immediately assuming it was from a recent performance. I found myself underwhelmed or nonplussed at best by the sound. When the segment ended and the announcer mentioned it was a performance by the LA Phil conducted by Andre Previn, I then understood why I found the presentation to be so non-visceral and unremarkable. The reason? Not necessarily because Previn was in charge of the orchestra, or because the LAPhil was being managed by him at the time. It’s mainly because anything that predates 2003 doesn’t come with the advantage of having been performed in the concert hall at First and Grand.
Just about all orchestras out there, be they Chicago, Vienna, Berlin, the Concertgebouw, Cleveland, London, etc — and I’ve been listening to taped concerts from all these groups for several weeks — that are going to be doing a major recording for public release, should book a flight to LA and rent Disney Hall for the occasion. I say that only partly tongue-in-cheek, although such an arrangement would be more effective than those orchestras taking their old recordings and remastering them.