Delos Diary

James DePreist's newest recording with the Oregon Symphony will be released by Delos late in May. The CD will feature two symphonies by Jean Sibelius: No. 2 & No. 7, both long-time favorites of DePreist.
In many ways the last few years have been wonderful ones for DePreist's music-making. Philanthropist Gretchen Brooks of Vancouver, Washington (just across the river from Portland) and her Recording Fund for the Oregon Symphony have provided funds covering much of the costs of recording to ensure that Maestro DePreist could set down a permanent record of his mature thoughts and interpretations of some of his favorite classical works.
Delos International has done its part by furnishing technical and merchandising expertise. The results have been impressive.
These include new looks at Stravinsky's Firebird and Rite of Spring (DE 3278); Respighi's Rome (DE 3287) (a dazzling smorgasbord, or, more correctly, antipasti of the famous Roman tone poems); a new Shostakovich 11th Symphony (DE 3329) with state-of-the-art sound; a generous sampling of interesting American works by Lees, Persichetti and Daugherty (DE 3291); and still to come, after the Sibelius, some very special favorites by William Walton.
In all of these recordings the playing of the Oregon Symphony, as it has developed under James DePreist, is of the very highest caliber meeting the maestro's demands on every level.
Watch for the new Sibelius in just a few weeks!