In the spring of 1987, the San Francisco Symphony and Herbert Blomstedt entered into an exclusive contract with
London records. This collaboration resulted in 28 recordings that have
won worldwide praise and international awards.
The initial London contract called for five Blomstedt/SFS CDs, to be recorded over two years. But so successful were the first recording sessions, in the fall of 1987, that the contract was extended immediately to ten discs. In 1990, the morning after the Orchestra's triumphant debut at the Salzburg Festival, London announced a contract renewal, calling for an additional 15 CDs.
"A live performance is a celebration," says Herbert Blomstedt. "In a recording, the mood is very different. But the music itself triggers our interest, our concentration, our desire to do as perfectly as possible and as intensely, with all our senses. It helps, of course, to have two thousand pairs of ears listening to us in concert. But in recording sessions, we know we are playing to a million listening ears."
