This powerful new recording from Michael Tilson Thomas and the Grammy award-winning San Francisco Symphony and Chorus features two works from early in Beethoven’s career. The rarely performed and recorded Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra is a glorious and profoundly moving tribute written by the 19-year-old Beethoven and clearly foreshadows greatness to come. In his playful Second Symphony, Beethoven shows us what a true master he had become.

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony present their first-ever digital-only release with Berg’s fantastical Three Pieces for Orchestra. This release launches the Symphony’s new digital-only series by its eight-time Grammy Award winning in-house record label, SFS Media. Presented in studio master-quality for download and streaming, experience one of the finest examples of Berg’s brilliant artistry in this transfixing work of tragic premonition and drama.

Michael Tilson Thomas and the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony present a new live recording of the first-ever concert performances of Leonard Bernstein’s complete score for the beloved musical West Side Story. The recording boasts a talented cast of Broadway actors led by Alexandra Silber (Maria) and Cheyenne Jackson (Tony) alongside members of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. This Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Set includes a 100-page booklet featuring a new interview with MTT, notes from Rita Moreno and Jamie Bernstein, as well as a West Side Story historical timeline, archival photographs, complete lyrics, and rehearsal and performance photos. Presented in a High Definition Premium Audio Hybrid SACD* Set, this must-have album is the latest treasure from the Orchestra’s very own SFS Media label.

The performances were recorded live at Davies Symphony Hall in late June and early July 2013 after Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony became the first orchestra to receive permission from all four West Side Story rights-holders to perform and record the musical score in its entirety in a concert setting. Of the new recording, Michael Tilson Thomas said, “This is a new and rare opportunity to hear Bernstein’s complete score sung by a sensational young cast and a knock-your-socks-off orchestra. The San Francisco Symphony totally understands and feels this music. We show the Broadway roots of the piece and how its universal qualities translate into the way we think about it today.”

Recorded live in PCM 96 kHz/24-bit audio June 27 – July 2, 2013 at Davies Symphony Hall — a venue of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, City and County of San Francisco.