Box Set + 2 Blu-ray Audio/Atmos. The culmination of five digital releases, The National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Gianandrea Noseda conclude their journey through Beethoven's complete symphonies, with this release of a complete box set. "Beethoven's voice is as fresh and powerful today as it was when he created those masterpieces, " said Noseda. "To approach Beethoven is a journey. You know you are starting the journey, but you never know where the journey will take you. With Beethoven, any moment is a discovery." Capturing the complete Beethoven Symphonies was a multi-year project, with the performances and recordings spanning the NSO's 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. The recordings of Symphonies Nos.1 & 3 were released in 2022, followed by Nos.4 & 5, 6 & 8, and 2 & 7 in 2023. Symphony No.9 was recorded with special guest artists, soprano Camilla Tilling, mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Issachah Savage, bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, and the Washington Chorus. This deluxe set includes 5 hybrid SACDs, alongside 2 Blu-ray Audio discs containing stereo, surround and Atmos mixes as well as a bonus video performance of Beethoven Symphony No.9.

Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra present a gripping new recording of Samuel Barber's Vanessa, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American opera of love, longing, and illusion. In Barber's atmospheric, emotionally charged score, echoes of Verdi, Puccini, and Hitchcock-era Hollywood intertwine with a distinctly modern American voice. This performance brings together an exceptional cast, including Nicole Heaston, J'Nai Bridges, Matthew Polenzani, Susan Graham, and Thomas Hampson, who illuminate Gian Carlo Menotti's haunting tale of desire across generations. Recorded live in concert, this release captures Vanessa's sweeping romanticism and psychological depth with vivid orchestral color and extraordinary vocal artistry. A landmark addition to the contemporary operatic discography, it reveals why Vanessa remains one of the 20th century's most compelling operas.

The National Symphony Orchestra will presents the complete sinfonias of George Walker. "The National Symphony Orchestra's unprecedented digital recording cycle offers an opportunity to experience my father's compositional evolution in context for the first time. Peter Laki's text, Frank Schramm's photography, and, of course, the committed artistry of Maestro Noseda and the musicians make a compelling argument for this music's enduring significance." (Gregory Walker, son of George Walker)

So Fragile, So Blue is about something we all have in common; this beautiful planet Earth that we all call home. At the core of this project is William Shatner and his remarkable talent for storytelling. In 2021, Shatner made a historic journey into space on Blue Origin's rocket, New Shepard. Just before the launch, Shatner shared a meal with two old friends, Robert Sharenow and Dan Miller. For many years the trio had written songs together-firstly in person, and later over Zoom throughout the pandemic. "I met Robert and Dan for dinner and of course began to talk about writing a song about going up into space and made some notes. But then I went up and I came down and then I made some phone calls. One of the phone calls was to Robert and Dan. I said "You know, that song we started to write about space? Forget about it. It doesn't work." The experience was beyond anything we could have imagined. We have to write a song about it, but it's not the one we jotted down that Sunday. So, we started to write a song, encapsulating, distilling what I experienced going up into space. We called it 'So Fragile, So Blue' and it does distil everything I felt and saw." Later, the songs would take on a new form thanks to another long-term friend, Ben Folds, who was fascinated by Shatner's experience going into space. Folds, who is Artistic Advisor at the Kennedy Center, brought new collaborators to the project-the wonderful composer and orchestrator Jherek Bischoff and bluegrass violin virtuoso and composer Gabe Witcher, who wrote original underscoring for the songs to create new orchestral works. The friends' creation was brought to life by it's final contributors, conductor Steven Reineke and the National Symphony Orchestra, at the Kennedy Center in April 2022.

CARLOS SIMON: FOUR SYMPHONIC WORKS