Disc on U.S. charts

Press, 25 May 1989, Page 21

Disc on U.S. charts

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s first classical compact disc recording has made it on to the American Billboard Top 25 Classical Albums chart. The N.Z.S.O. recording of American composer Samuel Barber’s “Second Symphony” moved into slot 20 soon after its re-

lease. The CD was recorded late last year at Symphony House, Wellington, with a visiting American guest conductor, Andrew Schenck. It was released in the United States on March 3 1989, the forty-fifth anniversary of the symphony’s first public performance

in Boston in 1944. The recording was premiered on 46 commercial classical radio stations and written up in 46 major daily and Sunday newspapers. First sales of the CD exceeded expectation and the first pressing quickly sold out. The New Zealand release is scheduled for the end of May through Virgin Records.

Samuel Barber’s Second Symphony has had a chequered life. In 1964 the composer withdrew it from public performance and recording and had what he believed were all * copies of it destroyed. However, Schenck, who is an expert on Samuel Barber’s music, recently found a set of orchestral parts in London. He received permission from the Barber estate to record the work but it still may not be performed live.