New York Philharmonic

James H. North has compiled more than 1,500 commercial recordings made by the New York Philharmonic from 1917 to 2005. The introduction, discussing such issues as the importance of recordings, the orchestra's relationships with various recording companies, venues used, recordings that were not made (and why they were not), and the record-labeling systems used by Columbia/CBS/Sony, the Philharmonic's long-term business partner.
The entries are presented in chronological order and contain such important details as music played, performers, session dates and venues, recording companies and producers, release dates, and all issues of the recording, including 78- and 45-rpm discs, long-playing records, and compact discs. Three appendixes catalog the entries by composer, conductor, and soloists respectively, referring the reader to the appropriate entry in the main listing. Two additional appendixes further illustrate the New York Philharmonic's history, one by describing the 78-rpm records made for class use by Ginn and Company during the mid-1920s, the other by listing the twenty-five Young People's Concerts, written and conducted by Leonard Bernstein and broadcast worldwide on television from 1958 to 1970, now available on VHS and DVD.

James H. North is a free-lance journalist and music critic—writing for such publications as Fanfare and Classic Record Collector—and has attended New York Philharmonic concerts and listened to their recordings for over fifty years.