Many of the conductor-composer’s most celebrated interpretations and works are collected in this special edition of Leonard Bernstein’s American Columbia recordings from the 1950s and 60s, on these 15 carefully chosen original albums on 16 CDs. There is the still-astonishing album that launched Leonard Bernstein’s international reputation as the most dynamic and charismatic conductor of his era, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring recorded in January 1958 – two months after his appointment as the youngest music director in the New York Philharmonic’s history. The Bernstein recording that launched the “Mahler Renaissance” in the 1960s is also here: his Third Symphony with the New York Philharmonic, which has arguably never been surpassed. Also included are his Carl Nielsen recordings, whose great symphonies Bernstein brought to a wide new public with interpretations like his New York Philharmonic recording of the Fifth, perhaps the most thrilling account of this 20th-century masterpiece ever committed to disc. The masterings in this new collection are the best ever issued of these thrilling recordings by one of the last century’s greatest musicians, selected from the recent Leonard Bernstein: The Composer and Leonard Bernstein: Remastered editions, Sony Classical’s new 16-CD Leonard Bernstein edition is the perfect introduction to the work of this American genius.