Editing Boston Symphony Orchestra (section)

==Recordings==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2023}}
The Boston Symphony made its first acoustical recordings in 1917 in [[Camden, New Jersey]], for the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] conducted by [[Karl Muck]]. Among the first discs recorded was the finale to [[Tchaikovsky]]'s fourth symphony. Under Serge Koussevitzky, the orchestra made its first electrical recordings, also for Victor, in the late 1920s. These electrical recordings included [[Ravel]]'s ''[[Boléro]]''. Recording sessions took place in Symphony Hall. Koussevitzky's final recording with the Boston Symphony was a high fidelity version of [[Sibelius]]' Symphony No. 2, recorded in 1950 and released on LP.

In February 1954, RCA Victor began recording the orchestra in stereo, under the direction of Charles Munch. RCA Victor continued to record Munch and the orchestra through 1962, his final year as music director in Boston (see the [[Charles Munch discography]] for a complete list of commercial recordings with the BSO under Charles Munch). During Munch's tenure, Pierre Monteux made a series of records with the BSO for RCA Victor (see [[Pierre Monteux]] for a complete list of commercial recordings with the BSO).

Erich Leinsdorf, who had already made numerous recordings for RCA Victor, continued his association with the company during his seven years in Boston. These included a critically acclaimed performance of Brahms' [[A German Requiem (Brahms)|''German Requiem'']] (see [[Erich Leinsdorf]] for a complete list).

Then, the orchestra switched to [[Deutsche Grammophon]] (DG) under William Steinberg. RCA Victor recorded several LPs with Steinberg and [[Berlioz]]'s ''[[Symphonie Fantastique]]'' with [[Georges Prêtre]] during the transition to DG (see [[William Steinberg]] for a complete list of commercial recordings). [[Michael Tilson Thomas]], who was the assistant conductor and associate conductor under Steinberg, also made several recordings for DG; some of these have been reissued on CD.

Due to Steinberg's illness, DG recorded the BSO with [[Rafael Kubelík]] in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 (part of his cycle of Beethoven symphonies with nine different orchestras), ''[[Ma Vlast]]'' by [[Bedřich Smetana]] and in [[Béla Bartók]]'s Concerto for Orchestra as well as with [[Eugen Jochum]] conducting Symphony No. 41 by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] and [[Franz Schubert]]'s Symphony No. 8.

As a guest conductor in the 1960s, Ozawa made several recordings with the BSO for RCA Victor. He continued the BSO relationship with DG while making several other releases for New World Records.<ref name="New World Records 2019 n366">{{cite web | title=Press | website=New World Records | date=30 December 2019 | url=https://www.newworldrecords.org/pages/press-1 | access-date=9 February 2024 | archive-date=February 8, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208135139/https://www.newworldrecords.org/pages/press-1 | url-status=live }}</ref> Over the course of Ozawa's tenure, the BSO diversified its relationships, making recordings under Ozawa with CBS, EMI, [[Philips Records]], RCA, and [[TELARC]].

The BSO also recorded for Philips under Colin Davis. [[Leonard Bernstein]] made records for both Columbia and DG with the BSO, including selections from his last concert ever as a conductor on August 19, 1990, at Tanglewood. The BSO has also appeared on Decca with [[Vladimir Ashkenazy]], with [[Charles Dutoit]] and [[André Previn]] for DG, and on Phillips and Sony Classical with Bernard Haitink.

The BSO has also done recordings for film scores on occasion. Films such as ''[[Schindler's List]]'' and ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' (both composed and conducted by [[John Williams]]) were recorded by the orchestra at Symphony Hall.

In the James Levine era, the BSO had no standing recording contract with a major label;<ref name="npr-recording">{{cite web |work=[[Weekend Edition]] |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634528 |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |title=Philly Orchestra Composes Innovative Contract |date=May 7, 2005 |access-date=February 20, 2009 |format=audio |archive-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122161857/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634528 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Grammy Award-winning recording of Levine conducting the BSO with [[Lorraine Hunt Lieberson]] in [[Peter Lieberson]]'s ''Neruda Songs'', released on [[Nonesuch Records]], was the only major label recording during Levine's tenure. On February 19, 2009, the BSO announced the launch of a new series of recordings on their own label, BSO Classics. Some of the recordings are available only as digital downloads. The initial recordings included live concert performances of [[William Bolcom]]'s 8th Symphony and ''Lyric Concerto,'' the latter with flutist James Galway, [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]]'s [[Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)|Sixth Symphony]], the Brahms ''Ein deutsches Requiem'', and [[Ravel]]'s complete ''[[Daphnis et Chloé]]'',<ref name="bostonglobe-bsoclassics">{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/02/20/listening_to_levine_two_cds_a_season_of_firsts/ |last=Eichler |first=Jeremy |author-link=Jeremy Eichler |title=Listening to Levine: two CDs, a season of firsts |work=The Boston Globe |date=February 20, 2009 |access-date=February 20, 2009 |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022174703/http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/02/20/listening_to_levine_two_cds_a_season_of_firsts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> which won the [[Grammy Awards of 2010|2010]] [[Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance]].<ref name="nyt-grammy">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/arts/music/01grammylist.html?sq=grammy%20awards&st=cse&scp=2&pagewanted=all |title=Grammy Awards: List of Winners |work=The New York Times |date=January 31, 2010 |access-date=February 6, 2017 |archive-date=August 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802094753/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/arts/music/01grammylist.html?sq=grammy%20awards&st=cse&scp=2&pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2015, the BSO announced a new recording partnership with [[Deutsche Grammophon]] that focuses on the music of [[Dmitri Shostakovich]], with Nelsons as conductor.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/04/03/nelsons-bso-embark-shostakovich-cycle/HSNmCHqkPuP9L7aUVPkUYN/story.html | title=Nelsons, BSO embark on Shostakovich cycle | work=The Boston Globe | author=[[Jeremy Eichler]] | date=April 4, 2015 | access-date=August 3, 2015 | archive-date=July 31, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731000514/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/04/03/nelsons-bso-embark-shostakovich-cycle/HSNmCHqkPuP9L7aUVPkUYN/story.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The first recording in the series, of the [[Symphony No. 10 (Shostakovich)|Tenth Symphony]] recorded in concert in April 2015, was released on CD in August 2015, and subsequently won the year's Grammy award for Best Orchestral Performance. The most recent recording in the series, released in October 2023, concluded the cycle of Shostakovich symphonies, featuring performances of the 2nd, 3rd, 12th, and 13th symphonies.