Howard Hanson Conducting The Eastman-Rochester Orchestra ‎– Howard Hanson Conducts Barber, Piston, Griffes & Others (1992)

While I have always loved the Mercury Living Presence label (how about that 50CD reissue!), I used to feel that Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra were the nonessential recordings of the label. Their repertoire always struck me as interesting, but not necessarily that enjoyable to listen to. Perhaps that is because Hanson championed a certain style of contemporary American music, and looking backward from today's perch a lot of it ultimately may have missed the mark. But history should also be kind to Hanson because he presented and preserved all of this ecclectic music, and did so without picking favorties like Bernstein always did. An obscure concerto by a well-known composer like Barber and a relatively well-known piece by an obscure composer like Piston, get equal billing with four other works by people I've never heard of before or since, all in glorious MLP sound -- making these recordings all the more worthwhile. As this is one of the few remaining reasonable priced OOP Living Presence selections, interested parties should act quickly. Or maybe we'll all be lucky enough to have this disc included in a second 50CD Mercury collection!