What a courageous concert programme! When Eugene Ormandy conducted “his” Philadelphia Orchestra in this concert recorded live in 1977 he chose music that showed off the orchestra’s hallmark, the “Ormandy sound” - mellow, full toned, opulent, colourful and mellifluously beautiful. One of the 20th century’s legendary conductor-orchestra combinations, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, worked closely together for almost half a century. During his tenure as Musical Director from 1936 until 1980, the “Phillys” became known for their special sound, particularly suited to the late romantic compositions of the Russian repertoire that Ormandy first introduced to American audiences. With Rimsky-Korsakov’s wild and exotic Sheherazade forming its centrepiece, the DVD features a variety of virtuosic orchestral compositions from the Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire: showpieces for orchestra, which – through sophisticated instrumentation and spectacular effects – reveal the Philadelphia Orchestra’s masterful playing and the full range of its inimitable sound.