Rediscover Leonard Bernstein—composer, conductor, and consummate musician—in performances drawn from the archives of the legendary Deutsche Gramophone label. This 2-CD set is a special edition companion to Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, a citywide festival presented in fall 2008 by Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Bernstein’s birth and the 50th anniversary of his appointment as music director of the New York Philharmonic. Featuring renowned Bernstein compositions such as Three Dance Episodes from On the Town and the Candide Overture, this compilation also includes recordings of Bernstein leading acclaimed ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic.

On the Town … Mass … Symphonic Dances from West Side Story … Fancy Free … Experience the inimitable music of Leonard Bernstein—through legendary performances conducted by Bernstein himself—on this special new 10-CD set, featuring such soloists as Benny Goodman, Isaac Stern, Lukas Foss, and Jennie Tourel in 19 works. Also included are original album cover art and liner notes, as well as a new essay by Bernstein friend and biographer Humphrey Burton. The first compilation in the Carnegie Hall / Sony BMG Masterworks series, The Original Jacket Collection: Bernstein Conducts Bernstein heralds the opening of Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, a citywide festival during Carnegie Hall’s 2008–09 season.

The set features performances of Brahms Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (1973); and the first DVD release of Bernstein conducting the Orchestre National de France in a 1976 performance of Franck’s Symphony in D Minor and Darius Milhaud’s ballets La Création du monde and Le Boeuf sur le toit.

Additionally, the set includes rare audiovisual footage from a 1981 performance with the Vienna Philharmonic of Bernstein performing as piano soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453 (paired with Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543); the historic concert performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, recorded at Schauspielhaus Berlin on December 25, 1989 to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall; and Bernstein’s final appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, a work he came to at the end of his life.